Final Fantasy χ
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Tyler's world is gone. His family is gone. His friends. And now, he has some magic key that he has to use to fight creatures of darkness as he tries to save the only other survivor from his world. OCXLightning, characters are from FFXIII and various disney worlds both used and unused.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

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Nightmare

Tyler walked down the street, stretching and yawning before twisting, cracking his back several times. He turned back to the front and looked around at the various rides and games around them. He sighed, rolling his eyes and glancing at Beth beside him. She was looking around in amazement, acting as though she had never been to one, despite the fact that they went almost every other week. There was always a fair, or a carnival, or a circus in their small town. He didn't know why. There was nothing to celebrate, besides a new opportunity to get drunk, he supposed.

"Can we go on the Farris Wheel next?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, sure," Tyler sighed. "Why not?"

They walked to the Farris Wheel, but just as they got in line, a hand tapped Tyler on the shoulder. He turned, looking up in time to see his cousin grinning at him.

"Hey Ty, mom wants you to come say hi to my new dad," Steven said.

"Great," Tyler groaned. "I'm sorry Beth. I guess you'll have to go without me."

Beth began to pout but Tyler followed Steven away from the line about fifty meters where the rest of their family was waiting. The newest addition was waiting, fat, trashed, wearing a stained wife beater, and with a borderline furious, hateful expression adorning his pudgy, red-hued face.

"Tyler," Steven's mother, and the woman who had been in charge of Tyler's life since his mother had died five years ago, said. "This is Allen. Allen, this is my nephew, Tyler."

Allen grunted in displeasure. Tyler rolled his eyes.

"Another fat drunk asshole huh?" Tyler asked. "Joy. What a wonderful piece of shit this one is."

Allen's eyes widened, his face flushing with rage as his chest began to swell, his entire body drawing up to shout. Before he could, however, Tyler's face lit up with joy, a young four-year-old girl in a pink dress and a pair of pigtails running out from behind Steven's mother, meeting Tyler with a hug.

"Alice!" Tyler smiled, picking her up and spinning, earning a squeal of delight. "My god, you've gotten so big! What are you, two now?"

"I'm four!" Alice laughed.

"Four?" Tyler said. "No way!"

"Yeah huh!" Alice said.

"Where've you been anyway?" Tyler asked.

"With Gramma Sharron," Alice said.

"Oh yeah?" Tyler asked. "Where's she at?"

"She's at the ice cream people!" Alice said, pointing.

Tyler turned to look and smiled just as Beth stepped up beside him, glaring at him.

"You could have gone to see them after," Beth said.

"And miss this beautiful little lady?" Tyler asked, looking to Alice. "No way."

"I wanna go on the Farris Wheel!" Alice said.

"I don't think you're tall enough," Tyler said.

"Please will you go with me?" Alice pouted and Tyler laughed.

"Sorry, but I gotta go and say high to Gramma Sharron," Tyler laughed. "Maybe Steven can take you on the Farris Wheel."

Alice turned to Steven who sighed and nodded.

"Sure," Steven said. "But you're going to owe me for volunteering me to get yourself out of your fear of heights. Again."

Tyler grinned and Steven took Alice's hand, leading her to the Farris Wheel. Tyler turned, walking toward the ice cream stand. When he arrive, he looked around, blinking in confusion when he didn't see Sharron.

"Where'd you go?" he wondered aloud.

Just then, several screams rang out, along with the sound of grinding metal. He turned, staring up at the Farris Wheel as it ground to a halt. He instantly picked out Alice's bright pink dress at the very top. He took a step forward as the Farris Wheel shuddered.

"Steven!" he shouted, sprinting for the Farris Wheel. "Alice!"

He reached the base of the ride in moments, shoving past the fair security guards standing around there. He jumped, grabbing the top of the lowest seat's roof and pulled himself up, grabbing the left support and pressing his feet against it in front of himself, keeping his feet sideways. Then, he began to climb, moving his right hand up the pole then his left foot, then his left hand, then his right foot.

He began to quickly scale the Farris Wheel, reaching Alice and Steven in a couple of minutes, refusing to look down. His fear of heights was rapidly eating away at his motor functions, but he couldn't focus on it right now. He'd throw up when he was back on the ground.

"Monkey Boy's back!" Steven laughed, looking terrified and trying to calm himself with humor. "Take Alice. I'll climb down after you."

Tyler nodded, climbing in and taking Alice in his arms, keeping his right securely around her and gripping the edge with his left. "Hold on tight Alice."

Alice clung to him as he began to lower himself down. Step after step, he descended. His entire body burned. He felt so heavy he might fall but he continued. Just as he reached the last quarter, the Farris Wheel shuddered again. Tyler felt his weight shift and swore. Then, his fingers slipped off of the bar as he fell backward. He clutched Alice to his chest as she screamed, only for several security guards below them to catch them, setting them on their feet. Then, Tyler picked Alice up, turning and sprinting away from the ride, eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched. Behind him, there was a god-awful grinding, crunching, crashing noise. Finally, once the noise had stopped and the screams were dying down, Tyler turned to the ride, staring at the crumpled remains and the body parts lying scattered where they were crushed off or poking out of the wreckage.

"Steven!" Steven's mother's voice screamed.

Tyler stared in a numb silence, kneeling and keeping his arms around Alice, who was sobbing. All around them, parents and family of those who had been on the Farris Wheel, or around it, screamed and sobbed and mourned. Tyler swallowed hard. He could see Steven's face now. He could feel the despair in the air. It was practically palpable. Like a wave of negative emotion, flooding the area, dragging everyone down even more. He could practically see the waves of darkness drifting through the air. Except, he could see it. There were literal waves of darkness drifting across the ground and through the air like smoke.

Tyler stood, lifting Alice, seeing the way the darkness began to collect around the people, seeming to thicken and constrict. It began to gather around Alice as she began to cry harder, so he turned, sprinting away from the Farris Wheel and tickling her. After several moments, she began to laugh in spite of herself, the darkness leaving her just like that.

He looked back to the others as they began to sink into the ground. He turned Alice away from them, Alice hugging herself into his chest. Then, the darkness began to thicken even more. Tyler took a step backward just as creatures began to rise from the ground where the darkness was thickest. The creatures didn't look exceptionally terrifying. They were small, humanoid creatures that lay forward almost parallel with the ground at the hips, their stubby legs bowed almost completely outward with comically large feet that were pointed in the front, their stubby arms ending in two pointed fingers, and their bulbous head was almost the same size as the rest of their bodies with two round, glowing, yellow eyes and a pair of bent and seemingly crushed antennae reaching forward from their head. They moved in odd jerking fashions and if they were upright would probably reach around two feet without their antennae.

"What are you?" Tyler breathed.

A scream echoed off to the side and he turned to look, seeing that the people further from the darkness hadn't been turned into those creatures. Then, the creatures took off, swarming into the crowd, slashing with their claws and tackling people, the darkness surging toward those that the creatures touched instantly. Several sank into the ground, shooting along the ground before rising in front of someone who was running away and attacking them. Tyler turned to run, tripping over his own feet. Alice slipped from his grasp as he hit hard, a crowd stampeding past him instantly, kicking and rolling him across the ground a ways before clearing. Tyler pushed himself up looking around, panicked.

"Alice!" Tyler shouted, looking around before finally spotting her, being chased by three of the characters.

Tyler sprinted after her just as Alice tripped, the creatures leaping at her. Tyler reached toward them, but he couldn't get there in time. He couldn't. Alice was going to die.

Light suddenly blinded Tyler, making him squeeze his eyes shut. He heard a sound like a sudden gust of wind blowing through a paper tube, then the light faded. He was sitting on his knees, staring at a women who had Alice held in one arm, and a cleaver-like sword with a blocky section under the blade, the cross guard extended from the base of the block, then a pistol-grip-like handle. She wore a white military-style jacket with short sleeves, a brown miniskirt, dark blue fingerless gloves, a black sleeve up to her mid-bicep on her left arm, a sleeve-like holder for her weapon hanging from the back of a belt that was under the jacket, a brown pauldron on her left shoulder with a red cape-like cloth hanging from it, a brown armband on her right bicep, a pink turtle-neck knitted shirt under the jacket with a silver pendant around her neck, a pink hip pouch on her left side, and brown combat boots reaching to her knees with shinguards on the front. The woman had light pink hair swept over her left shoulder and soft features, yet an alert, almost cold look in her eyes.

"Who...who are you?" Tyler asked, pushing himself up.

She turned to look at him and stared silently for a moment. "My name's Lightning. You almost let her be killed."

"I know," Tyler said miserably. "Thank you for saving her."

Lightning stared at him in silence for several moments before nodding. She began to kneel in order to set Alice down just as several creatures burst out of the ground. Unlike the other creatures, these ones had blue jackets and pants, grey armor-like helmets with a single crumpled antenna sticking up from the back, and red claws. They all leapt at Lightning, who slashed three, only for the fourth to snatch Alice from her and land on its feet. Tyler took a step forward only for a dozen of the other creatures to tackle him. He began to thrash and fight, but the creatures were a lot stronger than they looked.

 _I need a weapon!_ Tyler thought. _I have to save Alice!_

He yanked his right hand out from under a creature, punching another and feeling the bones in his hand crack. The creature stepped backward, and he pulled. He had to get free. He had to reach Alice. He glanced at Lightning, seeing her being pinned by the soldier-looking creatures. He couldn't let her die either. He could already see the darkness gathering on her legs and reaching higher. He looked down. His own legs were engulfed in darkness, reaching all the way to his mid abdomen.

"Alice!" Tyler shouted as she screamed, darkness beginning to reach toward her from the ground. "Lightning!"

His body began to burn and fear filled him. He shouted again, feeling something drive itself into his back. He felt cold, even as something warm spread down his back. Then, he felt a weight settle in his hand. He gripped the round object tightly, swinging. He heard the sound of wind again and suddenly three of the creatures on his right were gone. He swung the object the other way. Those creatures vanished as well. He stared at the object. It was a sword-like object with a guard on the front and back that looked like white wings with gold on the bottom and a golden five-point star in a circle at the tops, a black grip, a blue four-pointed star at the top, just below the two gold stars, and a larger golden four-pointed star with a silver arm reaching out from between each of the golden star's arms, and a curved blade. The blade was curved backward slightly with dark blue at the blade then fading to violet at the end. At the end, the front edge had four spikes sticking out of the semicircle on the end, and a golden crescent moon inside the semicircle with a golden five-pointed star inside the moon. The base of the grip had a silver chain ending in a golden crescent moon.

"Help!" Lightning screamed.

Tyler spun, lunging and slashing at the creatures. He destroyed two but the rest leapt away. Tyler took Lightning by the arm, lifting her up then turning and sprinting toward Alice. The creatures that were holding her leapt out of the way, allowing Tyler to grab Alice, lifting her, seeing the darkness fall away. He turned, staring at the flood of creatures running toward him.

"What are you doing!?" Lightning shouted. "Run! Fira!"

She swung her free arm across her body, sending out a large ball of fire that exploded against the creatures, destroying a handful of them and forcing them backward. Then, she turned, grabbing him by the arm holding his odd sword. Tyler felt her pulling him and they began to sprint. He could hear the creatures behind him. After another few steps, they stopped as shadows began to gather before them. Alice began to cry and Tyler hugged her to himself, turning away from the shadows, seeing the first type of small creature swarming around them by the dozen. They didn't charge, though.

"Hey kid, I might need your help with this one," Lightning said.

Tyler turned, feeling his arms fall numb, staring at a massive pair of legs. They were as black as night, with bent and crumpled antennae-looking pieces extending from its toes, where it was standing on only its toes. The creature had a very muscular body with a gaping, heart-shaped hole in most of its torso. Its fingers were ended in claws and its head was wrapped in tentacles like a hood, leaving only a pair of glowing yellow eyes. In total, it stood about twenty feet tall.

"What...is that thing?" Tyler breathed.

"They're called Heartless," Lightning said. "They steal people's hearts in order to replace the ones they don't have. When they do, they change into a different type and become more powerful. They also destroy whatever world they infest. But for now, we need to focus on destroying this thing. This thing is a Darkside."

"That's great," Tyler said. "How do we fight that thing?"

"You've got a fancy sword, right?" Lightning growled. "So use it!"

She spun, her sword blade suddenly folding backward, the weapon folding up into a gun, and opened fire. The bullets blasted through the creatures, Heartless as Lightning had called them, and dispersed them into small wisps of darkness and smoke, which blew away instantly. More swarmed toward Tyler and he slashed them with his sword, the sword having the same effect as Lightning's weapon did, except that now he noticed that with each strike, a small flash of light went off at the point of impact, the light spreading into a small cloud of a half dozen glowing golden crescent moons made of light.

He turned, slashing another Heartless before looking to the giant Heartless as it pulled its hand back, a glowing purple aura surrounding its fist as it stared at him. He spun, leaping out of the way and the hand crashed down on several Heartless that had been about to attack him, destroying them. Then, as Tyler stood, still holding Alice, darkness began to spread from the Darkside's hand, more Heartless growing from it, as if the army already present weren't enough. Suddenly, Lightning reached the Darkside's hand, stabbing it and then slashing out of it sideways before leaping back and swinging her hand.

"Thunder!" Lightning shouted, a bolt of lightning flashing out of the sky and exploding against its hand.

"That's lightning, not thunder," Tyler said.

"Shut up kid!" Lightning snapped. "Hit the hand!"

Tyler ran forward, slashing several Heartless as he passed them then stopping at the hand, slashing it several times before turning and diving out of the way of several leaping heartless. As he stood, Lightning stepped in front of him, slashing several Heartless out of the air.

"Your movements are sloppy," Lightning said. "Do you even know _how_ to use a sword?"

"Yeah," Tyler said. "Hit them with the sharp side. Or in the case of my oval-shaped blade, apparently, the thinner side."

"You're an idiot," Lightning sighed. "There's more to it than hitting them with the sharp side!"

"Well no duh!" Tyler said. "But I've never been trained so for now, this is the best I can do!"

Alice screamed suddenly and Lightning turned, stepping closer to Tyler and stabbing around him, Tyler hearing a Heartless being destroyed. Then, she spun, beginning to shoot as she carefully stepped around Tyler. He stepped out of the way, slashing several Heartless before Lightning tackled him from behind, the Darkside's fist crashing down again. Tyler stood, glancing down at Alice, who tucked her face into his chest, sobbing and screaming in fear. Suddenly, as Tyler turned toward the Darkside, the ground began to shake.

"Oh dear God, what now?" Tyler asked.

The sky above them began to turn a dark purple, the clouds turning black, and the ground began to crack. He looked around, seeing massive chunks of ground breaking free in the distance all the way around them and floating up into the air. Lightning swore, turning and looking around carefully.

"The world's being consumed," Lightning said, looking up. "Look."

Tyler looked up, seeing a black hole growing above them rapidly, the world around them being pulled in a few chunks at a time. He dropped his gaze to the ground again, watching as the Heartless began to approach them slowly, thousands of them. Even as skilled as Lightning clearly was, there was no hope of surviving. But Tyler would be damned if he let Alice be hurt while he still drew breath.

"What do we do?" Tyler asked.

"We need to escape," Lightning said.

"If you have any ideas, I'm all ears," Tyler said.

"Fight hard," Lightning said, holding up a small blue crystal and crushing it in her hand. "No matter what, protect Alice."

Suddenly, massive chunks of ice the size of motor cycles began to fall all around them, crushing Heartless. That seemed to be the signal, however, because a moment later, the Heartless were charging. Tyler had to react first, a soldier-looking Heartless leaping at him, only for him to destroy it with his sword. He turned as the basic type charged and slashed a pair before stabbing another. Then, pain flared through his back and he dropped to his knees, shouting. Lightning was shouting something, but he couldn't hear it. He looked to the Darkside, seeing it reaching toward him. He slashed its palm, but then his sword was gone in a flash of light. He stared at his hand in silence before tipping sideway, landing heavily as Alice knelt beside him, trying to pull him back up, crying. He stared past her, at the approaching Heartless as fire and lightning began to tear into them, along with bullets, but then darkness began to fill his vision.

"Alice...run," Tyler breathed as his vision faded entirely.

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

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Rescued

Pain. Pain was the first sensation to return to him. Not the same, sharp, all-consuming pain he had felt before, but a strong ache, like when you pull a muscle. After the pain, the rest of feeling returned, along with smells. He was lying on his left side on something soft, probably a bed. And it smelled like cherry blossoms and sickness. He groaned as he tried to move and was met with a wave of nausea and a throb from his back. His eyes slowly opened and he stared at the mirror. He was deathly pale, his normally thick, soft, brown hair now wiry and thin, and had paled to almost blonde. His eyes had dark circles under them and he was drenched in sweat.

"You're awake," a feminine voice said from behind him, Tyler detecting an accent that sounded Australian. "Good. I was worried we might actually lose you for a bit there. I've had Lightning up my ass for days asking when you'd wake up."

A girl stepped into view wearing a fur half-skirt behind herself, an orange skirt below it with a pink cloth tied into a bow at her waist, a pink top that covered her breasts then reached up around her neck, leaving plenty of cleavage, a dozen strings of decorative beads around her neck and torso under her top, then a string running vertically between her breasts from her necklace to her belt. Both skirts reached barely a quarter of the way down her thighs, she had her bright orange hair in a pair of short pigtails, and she wore a half dozen bangles on each wrist. Behind her, there was a folded up object that looked like a white stick with several branches at the end, each tipped with a small golden hook, and a hinge built in to let it fold in half with the lower half wrapped in red cloth.

"My name's Vanille," she said. "I healed your wound, but the darkness had gotten inside, so you're going to be stuck in bed a couple more days while it fades."

"Where's Alice?" Tyler asked, trying to sit up, only for Vanille to push him back down gently.

"Now now," Vanille said. "You stay put. You're too weak to move right now."

Then, she was gone. Tyler tried to stand again, only to stop as Lightning walked in, staring at him blankly for a moment before pushing him back down as well and sitting beside him.

"Vanille says you're through the worst of it," Lightning said. "You should be able to move again tomorrow, but you'll still need rest."

"Where's Alice?" Tyler asked.

"We have someone who specializes in fighting Heartless coming to make sure we didn't miss anything later today," Lightning continued, ignoring him. "He might be able to speed up your recovery. Your world's gone, though. I'm sorry."

"Fuck the world," Tyler said. "Where's Alice?"

"I found out what your sword was too," Lightning said. "It's-"

"Lightning, where is Alice!" Tyler snapped, Lightning falling silent and staring at the floor.

"Gone," Lightning finally said. "When I woke up here, it was just you and me. The Heartless probably took Alice. But there's a chance they didn't."

"So she's dead?" Tyler asked.

"No," Lightning said. "We may still be able to save her."

"Then why are we still here?" Tyler asked, trying to get up again, Lightning again pushing him back down.

"We're still here because you're still wounded. You were injured by a Heartless before you got that sword. The sword's magic was able to keep you fighting, but then the darkness managed to slip inside. It's a miracle that you didn't lose your heart."

Tyler was silent for several seconds before something she had said earlier that he hadn't payed much attention to came back to him. "What did you mean my world is gone? If that's true, where are we?"

"We're in a different world," Lightning said. "From your world, it would have been visible as a star. This world is called Twilight Town. It's a pretty small world, but a lot of people have ended up here when theirs was destroyed by the Heartless. Mine included. Only me and a handful of my friends made it here. My sister...she's gone missing too. Just like Alice did."

"I'm sorry," Tyler said. "Maybe they're together."

"Maybe," Lightning said, a tiny smile gracing her lips before it faded. "Anyway, like I said, there's someone here that might be able to help you."

"Who is it?" Tyler asked. "And also, how come you were able to get to my world but not leave?"

"The method I have to get from one world to the other, it requires time to prepare, which I can't do in the middle of a fight," Lightning said. "And the person in King Mickey."

"Wait, what?" Tyler blinked. "Mickey? As in Mickey Mouse?"

"You know King Mickey?" Lightning asked.

"Well...in my world he's...or...he _was_ a character on a child's tv show," Tyler said.

Lightning snorted in amusement, shaking her head. "Well, in reality, he's one of the most powerful wielders of something called a keyblade, which is apparently what your fancy sword was."

"What's a keyblade?" Tyler asked.

"No idea," Lightning said. "But according to one of my friends, King Mickey uses it to fight Heartless, so maybe he can teach you what it is and how to use it."

"But I don't have it anymore," Tyler said. "It just disappeared when I feinted."

"Apparently it does that," Lightning said.

"Lightning!" a female voice with a thicker, more clearly Australian accent than Vanille's shouted from the next room. "There's some mouse here to see you."

"Send him in please!" Lightning called back.

After a moment, Mickey Mouse stepped into the room, wearing a black trench coat, black boots, and black gloves. Tyler stared at him in a mixture of amazement and amusement.

"Hello, I'm Mickey," Mickey introduced himself.

"Tyler," Tyler said. "In my world, you're a children's cartoon so forgive me if I stare. You're also the first talking mouse I've ever seen."

Mickey laughed. "I heard you fought Heartless with a keyblade."

"I did," Tyler nodded, "but it disappeared when I was wounded."

"Don't worry about that," Mickey said, a giant key with a silver guard around a black handle, a charm that was the silhouette of Mickey's head, and a golden shaft and teeth appearing in his hand.

He held it up and a green light flashed at the tip of it before Tyler felt warmth spread through his body as he glowed green for a moment. Then, it faded and he sat up, staring at his hands. Tyler looked to Mickey who let the key vanish in a flash of light.

"Now, close your eyes, hold out your hand, and focus," Mickey said. "You need to find that light and power deep inside of you. Then, focus it to your hand."

Tyler closed his eyes, holding his hand out. Focusing and finding some light and power inside of himself, however, was a different story. He wasn't sure how to do that.

"Your keyblade's power comes from your heart," Mickey said, apparently realizing what Tyler was thinking.

Tyler took a breath, focusing on his emotions, and everything that made up his metaphorical heart. Then, there was a flash of light that pierced through his eyelids and his hand instinctively closed, grasping a familiar weight. He opened his eyes, seeing Mickey staring at the weapon.

"Star Seeker," Mickey said. "It's the same Keyblade I used to have."

"What exactly _is_ a keyblade?" Lightning asked.

"A keyblade is a magical weapon capable of locking and unlocking any lock, as well as driving away darkness," Mickey said. "When a heartless that has stolen a heart is killed by a keyblade, the hearts are sent to something called Kingdom Hearts, which is the source of all light. However, keyblades also have the ability to open the Door to Darkness, which is a door that leads to the Realm of Darkness, where the worlds taken by the Heartless reside. It's where the Heartless are from."

"So, if we went there, theoretically, we could wipe out the Heartless?" Tyler asked.

"No," Mickey said. "The Heartless are limitless. They're created from the darkness in people's hearts. They only reside in the Realm of Darkness, until there's enough darkness to summon them to the Realm of Light. Or until something else summons them."

"So, a keyblade is a weapon created to fight Heartless?" Tyler asked.

"Not really," Mickey said. "A long time ago, keyblades were made to fight a war to possess Kingdom Hearts. The keyblades were made from light, so they also happen to possess the ability to destroy creatures of darkness, meaning Heartless. They are also a bridge between worlds, and allow their wielder to travel between them, though you need either a special kind of armor or a ship in order to survive the trip."

"Armor?" Tyler asked.

"It's called Keyblade Armor, and the method for creating it was lost long ago," Mickey said. "So basically you just need the ship."

"I see," Tyler said.

"Oh, and keyblades are only able to be wielded by the person they chose, meaning only you can wield that one," Mickey said. "If someone else tries, you'll be able to summon it back to yourself whenever you want."

"Chose?" Tyler asked. "When did it choose me?"

"Normally, I'd say that you had to have had someone perform a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with you, which is a fancy way of saying that they pass on their keyblade to you," Mickey said. "However, there are thousands of keyblades that have no master currently, and once in a while, though rare, those keyblades will find a new master and take on a form that suits the wielder."

"So stars and a moon suit me?" Tyler asked. "I mean, I enjoy stargazing, but..."

"Well, I don't really know how forms are chosen," Mickey said. "But there are ways to change the keyblade. The charm on the bottom can be changed to give your keyblade new abilities and a new look. But the charms are a bit...hard to come by."

Tyler nodded and let his keyblade disappear. "Are there any clean clothes I can borrow, or a store nearby where I can buy some?"

"Sure," Lightning said. "How much munny do you have?"

"About a hundred dollars," Tyler said.

"What?" Lightning asked.

Tyler pulled out his wallet, showing her the bills and she stared at it, confused.

"That's not munny," Lightning said, pulling out a golden cube-like object. "This is munny. Pretty much every world uses it, except yours, I guess. I'll buy you some clothes. You can take a shower through that door while I'm gone."

She indicated the door behind Tyler, which had a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower inside. Then, she and Mickey left, closing the door behind them. Tyler got into the shower immediately, cleaning himself thoroughly. Then, once he was clean, he leaned his head against the shower wall, closing his eyes and letting the water run over his body. After a moment, he pushed himself up and held his hand out, summoning his keyblade. It was easier now that he knew how. He let it disappear just as someone knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Tyler asked.

"Your clothes are on the bed," Lightning said. "I'll be in the living room if you need any help."

"Thank you," Tyler said.

He waited about three minutes before shutting the shower off and grabbing a towel, drying himself then carefully peeking out into the bedroom. There was a pair of black shorts and a dark blue shirt laid out on the bed, along with some underwear and a pair of socks, his black and white Converse high-tops sitting beside the bed. He got dressed quickly, walking out to the living room and stopping. Vanille and Lightning were there, along with one black man, and a woman and a guy Tyler's age who both wore similar outfits. The woman, obviously the other one with an Australian accent, wore a blue cloth across her chest from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist, then tied around her waist into a skirt, hanging down on the right to her ankles, a pair of brown boots with her toes exposed, a pair of fur tails hanging from the front of her belt on the right, a pair of black forearm sleeves, a rope band around her right bicep, a black top similar to Vanille's pink one, a bead necklace, and long, raven black hair. She had a staff on her back that looked like it would extend and had bladed ends. The boy dressed like her wore a short-sleeved black shirt with purple down the center then in a strip over each shoulder, a forearm guard on the left forearm, ropes wrapped around his right forearm, a set of extremely loose blue pants, a blue cloth around his waist, and a pair of black boots. He had a sword on his back that looked like a pair of tongues of flame, along with a sheath for another sword, one like a gladius. The black man wore a pair of tan pants, a pair of pistols on his hips, a green military coat, black fingerless gloves, and black boots. He had an afro with a small baby chicken sitting on top of it.

"There you are," the black man said. "I think we should probably start with introductions. I'm Sazh."

"I'm Fang," the woman in blue said. "You're Tyler, right?"

"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "So, Lightning, can...well...can you teach me to fight?"

Lightning watched him for a moment before Fang began to laugh. After a moment, Fang stood.

"I'll help," Fang said.

"Are you as good as Lightning?" Tyler asked.

"I'm the only one in our merry little band who's able to fight on level with Lightning," Fang said.

"Okay," Tyler said. "That'll work."

"I'll help too," Lightning said. "You're going to need all the help learning you can get. Especially if you're going to try and find your niece."

Tyler nodded and they walked outside. Outside, there was a square clearing with a square stage set up in the middle, a padded surface on top of it. Lightning and Fang both walked onto the stage. On the ground further from them, there were several odd blue clubs with yellow handles. Two were about as long as a short sword, and the third was a staff with a blue club on each end. Lightning picked up the two sword clubs and Fang picked up the staff. Tyler followed them onto the stage and Lightning tossed one of the clubs to him.

"We're going to start off with these," Lightning said.

Tyler nodded and Lightning drilled him on various styles of sword play, and general technique. It took hours for him to pick anything up, and after an hour and a half, he, Lightning, and Fang began to spar. It did not go well. Every few minutes, Tyler found himself on the ground in agonizing pain. Finally, after hours, Lightning sat on the edge of the stage.

"That's enough," Lightning said. "You're not improving."

"All you're doing is continually beating me about the head!" Tyler complained.

"That's how I learned," Lightning said.

"I learned by fighting hungry beasts three times my size," Fang said.

"Well I don't learn from pain," Tyler said.

Lightning sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. After a moment, she sighed.

"Okay," Lightning said. "We'll spend three days training like this. If you don't improve, we'll go and start searching the worlds for Alice."

Tyler nodded and Lightning stood.

"Keep going over your form," Lightning said. "I'll be back in half an hour to par again."

Tyler nodded, beginning to practice while Fang and Lightning walked away.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Exploration

Tyler stared out the window as they passed over the wreckages. It wasn't just broken ships, it was an entire seabed of nothing but broken pieces of wood and glass with metal sticking out here and there. There were broken masts, a chunk of metal hull, a broken smoke stack. But it was all well beyond broken, crushed into bits was more accurate, or maybe blown up from the inside.

Tyler sighed, resting a hand against the glass as he leaned forward, looking down at the ships. For a half a second, he could swear he saw movement, but then he blinked and there was nothing but broken ships.

"Did you see something?" Lightning asked as she stepped up beside him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I thought I saw something move," Tyler said.

"Commander, I think you should hear this," the old woman running coms said from off to the side, getting no response. "Commander. Commander. Commander. Commander."

"Yes Mrs. Packard, what is it?" the commander asked finally.

"I'm picking something up on the hydrophone I think you should hear," she said.

"Put it on speaker," the commander said.

A moment later, Tyler turned to stare at the speaker as a deep, angry, vibrating, almost mechanical roar began to ring from it. Tyler swallowed, turning back to the window, watching the massive stone pillars they were passing through. As the commander was listening to the continuing sound, Tyler stared out into the dark water, clearly seeing movement behind the pillars, Lightning also staring.

"You see that?" Lightning asked.

"Yup," Tyler nodded. "Commander! There's something moving on the left side!"

"All lights to the port side," the commander ordered, all of the sub's lights swinging that way.

For a moment, there was nothing but dark water and stone. Then, a massive wall of dark greenish grey metal shot through the light. An alarm began to blare through the sub instantly, crew members scrambling to get to their stations and prepare for what was likely to be an attack. A moment later, a gigantic metal lobster with glowing red eyes shot out of the darkness, five times the size of their sub, and smashed a claw into it. Almost half a second later, several torpedoes launched out of the sub, exploding against the side of the lobster, earning another roar. Then, a dozen smaller subs, big enough for two people each, launched from the main sub's sides, all firing smaller explosives of their own, the main sub continuing to fire as well.

"I kind of want to help, but I doubt my keyblade would be much use against that thing," Tyler said.

"Agreed," Lightning nodded.

The lobster grabbed the main sub with the small arms on either side of its head, each arm still larger than the sub itself. It also had two larger main arms that made the two it was holding them with look like whiskers. The moment the sub was in the lobster's grasp, several torpedoes blasted it, making it release them. The sub surged forward, trying to escape while the smaller subs struggled to hold the lobster's attention, several being destroyed. Then, an energy beam shot out of the lobster's mouth, punching straight through the sub.

"Shit!" Lightning swore. "This might not go so well for us."

Tyler nodded, clenching the railing tightly. "Old subs like this were explosion risks if water hit the boilers."

Lightning nodded as the commander got a status report from Audrey saying about the same thing. Then, Mrs. Packard went over the intercom.

"All hands, abandon ship," Mrs. Packard said, sounding bored.

Tyler and Lightning were off instantly, following everyone else to the escape subs, piling in. They all began to scramble for seats, Tyler remaining standing since he arrived last and was the odd man out.

"Lieutenant, get us out of here!" the commander ordered.

"Working on it!" the blonde shouted, struggling to shove a lever forward, eventually kicking it.

They back of the main sub exploded outward, allowing the escape subs to shoot out of it mere seconds before it exploded with another blast from the lobster. They all shot away from the Lobster, which chased them instantly. Tyler clung to the wall, but after a moment the ship lurched and he was flung sideways into a metal strut running up the wall, grunting in pain before the ship dove sharply, hurling him into the ceiling then back to the floor, where he bounced and rolled forward. He managed to catch one of the crew's feet, stopping himself as he felt the crew member's knee pop out of place, accompanied by a shout of pain. Then, the ship lurched again and Tyler lost his grip being flung into the wall in a gap between Fang and Lightning's seats, both grabbing him, Lightning by the hand and Fang by the foot.

"You just have all the shitty luck, huh?" Fang asked.

"Please don't let go of me!" Tyler pleaded.

Then, the ship lurched again, Fang's arm swinging back and slamming into a strut, her elbow breaking and her hand letting go.

"Shit!" Fang swore as Tyler's feet swung toward the middle of the boat, Lightning and Tyler both grabbing each other's free hand as well.

Then, the sound of an explosion echoed from beside the ship and it jerked first one way, then the other rapidly. There was a snapping sound as Tyler was whipped to the side and back rapidly and Lightning shouted in pain, but held her grip. Tyler grit his teeth as he felt his shoulder strain from the motion. Then, finally, the ship jerked downward, swinging Tyler up into the wall before dropping him to the floor beside Lightning. Finally, the ship was steady, save for a slow bobbing motion.

"We've stopped," Tyler groaned, letting go of Lightning's hands and seeing her reach up to her shoulder, yanking and relocating it. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Lightning said. "Fang, we'll deal with your elbow in a bit."

Fang nodded. They all unbuckled themselves, climbing out of the ship through a hatch in the top as the ship was steered toward shore, a rock outcropping ahead of them. Up the incline a bit was a statue of some creature's face with a road leading into the cavern's wall, starting at the creature's mouth. Once on shore, the front of the ship opened and several trucks and transports were unloaded from it. Aside from that ship, the only other thing to survive the escape was a single fighter sub with Mole and Vincenzo in it. Nothing else had made it.

Within minutes, Sweet had a candle in a bowl floating out into the water as the commander gave a eulogy for the hundred fifty or so that had died, everyone that had survived, except for the one guy whose leg Tyler had broken, standing at the shore. Lightning had healed both her own shoulder and Fang's elbow, and both girls had changed back into their original outfits, since they had been found anyway.

"Alright, everyone saddle up!" the commander said. "Everyone drives, everyone works! No exceptions!"

Tyler walked over to one of the trucks where Milo was playing with the truck's air horn. He pulled Milo's hand off of it and Milo glanced at him. "I'll drive."

Milo nodded and Tyler climbed in behind the wheel as the commander walked over to him.

"Are you sure you're rated for this class of vehicle?" the commander asked.

"Yes," Tyler nodded. "I can drive a truck."

The commander grunted and Tyler started the truck up as Lightning sat beside him.

"What's this stick do?" Tyler asked her, receiving a shrug.

He shrugged as well and pressed the gas, nothing happening. He squeezed the lever at the top of the rod and pushed it forward and the truck began to idle forward. This time when he pushed the gas, the truck began to accelerate. He smirked, driving along the road, the rest of the vehicles falling in after him.

"I feel like this might me a very long drive," Tyler said, Lightning nodding in agreement.

As time ticked by, they drove along the winding road, passing areas where it was cramped enough that the truck scraped the walls, and areas where there was a sheer drop on one side. More than a couple of times, Tyler thought the truck might get stuck, or fall off a cliff, but he managed to avoid it. He and Lightning traded off every couple of hours, and eventually they came to a spot where the truck had to be lowered down off a cliff to a lower section of the road. After that, they drove until they reached a fork in the road and stopped. Milo pointed to the path on the left and Lightning started down that trail, only for a gigantic green caterpillar-like creature to burst out of it. Tyler and Lightning both leapt out instantly, Lightning shooting the creature in the face with her gunblade before Tyler leapt to the creature, slashing downward as he fell and splitting its front open. It dropped to the ground beside the truck, dead, and they turned to Milo, who held the journal the other way and smiled sheepishly, pointing at the other path. Lightning sighed, rolling her eyes and pulling the metal rod backward, backing back along the path before heading the other way, Tyler climbing in as she passed.

"You can use magic, right?" Tyler asked as they drove, Milo waiting up ahead.

"Yes why?" Lightning asked.

"Can you teach me after this?" Tyler asked.

"Sure," Lightning nodded. "Mickey said that the keyblade should give you the ability to wield magic more easily than most people can, so sure."

"Thank you," Tyler smiled just as Lightning slowed to a stop, letting Milo climb in.

They continued along the road in silence for hours before, finally, the commander ordered them to stop for a rest. After a few hours of rest, they were off again. After nearly a day, they came to a pillar a half-mile tall, which Vincenzo blew up to make a bridge. The vehicles carefully drove across it before continuing. After that, the temperature began to drop until they reached an area where it was as cold as winter, complete with snow. Then after that, it began to warm up again. Finally, on the fourth day of travel, they stopped as they reached a stone wall blocking their path. The drill began to dig through it, only to break down and backfire, halting.

"Shit," Tyler sighed. "Now what?"

"Looks like Audrey's working on it," Lightning said, the pair watching as Milo went to see if he could help.

After a moment, Audrey walked away and he turned two valves before smacking it with a wrench, the drill roaring back to life. A moment later, they were on the move again, following the drill this time. After a couple hours, they finally broke through the wall and continued as before before reaching a long, narrow bridge with a glowing chandelier like rock formation in the roof of the cavern.

"We'll make camp here," the commander announced.

"Finally," Tyler sighed. "I'm getting tired of driving."

Lightning nodded as they set up the tent that they would be sharing with Fang. "I agree. My back's killing me."

"Lucky you," Fang said. "That drill has no padding or shock absorbers. My ass feels like it's broken."

Tyler snorted, shaking his head as Lightning arched then twisted her back, groaning in annoyance as she failed to relieve any tension. "Um, if you want, Lightning, I could give you a massage. I'm not great, but I was taught a little by my friend who was taking massage therapy."

"Really?" Lightning asked. "That sounds excellent." She narrowed her eyes suddenly. "You're not going to try to make me take my shirt off are you?"

"No no," Tyler said, holding his hand up in front of himself. "I can do it with the shirt on just as well."

Lightning smiled and nodded just as Cookie called everyone for dinner. The three of them ate quickly before retreating into their tent for the night. Fang lay down on her sleeping bag and mat as Lightning lay on her stomach, Tyler kneeling beside her, beginning to massage her back. For a moment, Lightning's face scrunched up in discomfort before the nots began to unwind themselves and she sighed in relief and comfort. After a few more minutes, Tyler sat back and Lightning smiled up at him.

"You're pretty good at that," Lightning said. "Shame you can't massage heartless to death or you'd have no trouble at all."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Hah hah. I know, I know. Both of you can easily beat me in a fight."

"Say, if you're handing out free massages, my ass still hurts," Fang said, grinning as Tyler's face turned scarlet.

"I only do back massages," Tyler said. "And I'm going to bed anyway."

He quickly kicked off his boots and climbed into his sleeping bag, lying facing away from the two women. Both laughed before also climbing into their sleeping bags. Tyler sighed quietly and burrowed deeper into his sleeping bag. After a few minutes, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Arrival

"FIRE! FIRE!"

Tyler's eyes opened, seeing the walls of the tent glowing orange. He swore, scrambling out of his sleeping bag just as Lightning and Fang did the same. Then, they all darted out of their tent, looking around. There were fireflies flooding the area, and everything they touched lit up in flames, as did their tent a moment later.

"Blizzaga!" Lightning and Fang both shouted, several of the tents, and hundreds of the fireflies, were suddenly encased in ice.

Then, the ice shattered and the fireflies with it, the fire itself having disappeared. However, as soon as they finished, both fell to their knees, breathing hard. Tyler looked around as people scrambled for their vehicles. He grabbed Lightning and Fang's arms, lifting them back to their feet and the three of them sprinted to Tyler's, piling in and starting it up. Tyler gunned it, following the drill. However, just as they got halfway, the oil truck was swarmed by fireflies and exploded, blasting the back of the bridge apart, dropping the back of it, the drill skidding backward and forcing the rest back down the bridge.

"Shit!" Tyler swore.

Finally, they all crashed down at the top of a hole, only for the drill to push them in. A moment later, they were in the pitch dark, the commander striking a match to help him see.

"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off!" the commander said.

Several people groaned, Tyler hearing Fang's voice with it, but not Lightning's.

"Lightning?" Tyler asked.

"I'm here," Lightning said from beside him, Tyler realizing for the first time that he wasn't lying on the ground.

He could feel something soft yet firm underneath him. He quickly pushed himself up, lifting himself up the seat a bit and holding himself there by pushing against the dash with his feet. He could hear Cookie talking from somewhere in the darkness, but he wasn't paying attention. Finally, a headlight clicked on off to one side, light illuminating the area. He looked down, seeing Lightning lying against the ground, a gash in her side and both legs broken forward at the knee. She smiled slightly at his expression.

"Guess the landing wasn't quite as gentle as the last one," Lightning said.

"Lightning!" Tyler breathed, hearing movement above himself and looking up.

"Oh shit, Light!" Fang gasped.

She had blood running down the side of her head and road rash on her right shoulder, but she was okay.

"Lift her up here!" Fang said.

"Don't," Lightning said. "My back's shredded. I can feel it. The ground is keeping the bleeding to a minimum."

"What do we do?" Tyler asked.

"We can't do anything," Fang said. "All of our potions are back on the ship."

"Potions?" Tyler blinked. "You have magic potions?"

"You don't?" Fang blinked.

"We don't have time for this!" Tyler groaned. "We have to save Lightning! Can't you heal her like she does us?"

"I never learned the spell," Fang said. "I'm a fighter, not a healer."

"I can't use any spells," Tyler said.

"Hey you!" the blonde's voice shouted. "What are you doing over there?"

"Shit," Fang sighed. "I'll go deal with her."

She turned, dropping off of the truck and Tyler turned back to Lightning, swallowing hard. She simply smiled.

"It's alright," Lightning smiled.

"No," Tyler said. "I...I don't want to lose any more friends. I can't. I..." He struggled to find anything to say when suddenly his keyblade appeared in his hands, green light glowing from the tip. "What-"

He was cut off by the light flashing and vanishing, Lightning's body glowing green. She gasped harshly, eyes widening.

"Lightning?" Tyler asked.

"Lift me up, quickly!" Lightning said.

Tyler let the keyblade fade and reached down, taking her hand and wincing in sympathy before yanking her upward. For a moment, her legs were folded the rest of the way forward, Lightning screaming in agony, before twisting her lower body just as her legs snapped back down, barely having enough room. Once they were hanging normally, the green light condensed into her body making her shine green for a moment. Then, the light faded and she sighed, bending and straightening her legs.

"You...you healed me," Lightning breathed, looking up at him and smiling. "Thank you!"

"How did I..." Tyler trailed off before shaking his head, pulling Lightning up.

Once she was level with him, she stopped herself, hugging him for a moment before reaching up to the other door and lifting herself out, Tyler keeping his eyes down so he didn't see up her skirt. Once she was out, she dropped to the ground outside and he followed suit, getting outside just as the commander reached the truck.

"What was that scream about?" the commander asked.

"Uh..." Tyler glanced at Lightning.

"I thought I saw a bat," Lightning lied.

"A bat?" the commander asked. "I thought you were supposed to be a fighter."

"Everyone's got something they're afraid of," Lightning said. "And I might just be adding fireflies to that."

"Can't blame you there," the commander grumbled. "Alright. Help me roll this truck back onto its wheels."

Lightning and Tyler nodded, they, and several others, lifting the truck back onto its wheels.

"So, what do we do now?" Tyler asked.

"We've got to find Thatch," the commander said.

"Milo?" Lightning asked. "Which way do we look first?"

The commander shrugged, walking away to talk to the others while Fang walked back to Lightning and Tyler.

"Now what?" Tyler asked.

"There's got to be a tunnel here somewhere," Fang said. "If we find that, we probably find Milo, and whoever took him."

"Could it be the heartless?" Tyler asked.

"It's possible," Lightning nodded.

"We should get looking," Fang said.

The others nodded and they turned, walking to one wall of the cavern then following it around.

* * *

Tyler stared at the scene in awe. A perfectly round flat area with water endlessly flowing off of it, the center seeming to glow and with some form of landmass, or possibly a city, in the center, though he couldn't quite make it out. All around the raised area were mountains covered in lush green grass ,with a river of lava below the cliff they were currently standing on. Off to the left, some half-mile or so away, a rope bridge reached out to the raised section, with a sort of walkway leading to the place in the center of the water.

"It's...amazing," Tyler breathed, glancing to the side at Milo, Lightning and Fang, then the other way at everyone else, who had caught up about thirty seconds after they all arrived, they having chased Milo, who seemed to be chasing someone else.

Suddenly, Tyler heard movement behind them and turned, watching as half a dozen people dropped from above wearing masks almost as tall as he was with what looked like white fir around the edges and covering all but their arms, each holding a spear with the end of it shaped like a "Z". Aside from the masks, they had on blue or white clothing, though it looked more like something Tyler saw traditional Native Americans wearing, except a different color.

The one in front, a female, began to speak in a language Tyler didn't recognize, and Milo stepped forward, taking a moment to say something in the same language, the girl removing her mask to reveal straight, snow-white hair just past her shoulders, a light blue cloth to cover her breasts and as a skirt, and a crystal hanging around her neck. After a moment of such shaky translations, Milo asked in French if she spoke it and she responded that she did, also in French.

"They speak my language!" Mole gasped, darting forward. He beckoned the woman closer and whispered something to her, only for her to punch him in the face, throwing him backward.

"I like her," Fang grinned as the others, all male, began to remove their masks and greet the others using a variety of languages, ranging from Spanish to German.

"How is it they speak all these languages?" the blonde, Helga, asked.

"Their language must be based on some root dialect," Milo said. "Like the Tower of Babel."

"Well maybe English is in there somewhere too," the commander said. "We are explorers from the surface world. We come in Peace."

"Welcome to the city of Atlantis," the woman greeted, gesturing toward the raised section in the center.

"Come, you must speak with my father now!" the woman said, grabbing Milo by the hand and pulling him toward the bridge.

"Squad B, head back to the shaft and salvage what you can," the commander said. "We'll rendezvous in twenty four hours."

The soldiers and crew that had survived up until now all turned and headed back, Milo's group of friends, along with Helga and the commander, followed Tyler, Lightning, and Fang, who followed the Atlanteans and Milo.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Traitors

Tyler watched as the Atlanteans stood around them, watching curiously. Kida, the woman who had led them to Atlantis and who, apparently, was the princess of it, had led them to a clearing where they could train without anyone bothering them. On the other hand, three outsiders wielding weapons and abilities that even the Atlanteans had never seen seemed to draw a crowd.

"Pay attention Tyler," Lightning said, making him look back toward her. "Now, remember that before you can cast a spell, you need to tap into your magic energy, and when you use it all, you're going to feel exhausted until it recovers. If you try to use a spell when you have no magic energy left, you'll die."

"Understood," Tyler nodded.

"Now focus," Fang said. "Try to tap into your magic energy."

"How do I control what spell I use?" Tyler asked, eyes closed as he searched.

"That you control with your mind," Lightning said. "It takes practice, but you will the magic to form into an element, whether it's fire, ice, water, wind, lightning. A specific element should be easier than the rest. It's called your affinity element."

"I see," Tyler nodded, opening his eyes. "I think I found my magic energy."

"Try casting a spell," Lightning said. "For example, try to send a fireball at the ground over there."

Tyler nodded, focusing on the spot and imagining a fireball launching out of his hand as he swung it, the same way Lightning did. Instead, a purple light shone from his hand as a dark sphere with tiny spots of light, looking like a sphere of the night sky, appeared in the air, sinking into the ground for a moment before bursting in a flash of white light.

"What the hell was that?" Tyler blinked.

"That...that was gravity," Lightning said. "It's celestial magic. It's supposed to be difficult for even experienced keyblade wielders."

"That didn't tire me out at all," Tyler said.

"Celestial affinity," Fang mused. "Kid's full of surprises."

"Try healing next," Lightning said, taking her glove off and cutting her palm with her gunblade.

"Are you sure?" Tyler asked.

"You've already done it once," Lightning smiled.

He nodded and focused, his hand flashing green before her hand glowed, the wound sealing itself. He sighed in relief and turned back to the spot on the ground, focusing. He glanced at the keyblade before holding it out, a green flash shooting off of the tip and a sphere of wind appearing at the spot he was aiming for and exploding outward. He sighed. He had been trying for an ice spell.

"You'll get the hang of it," Lightning said. "Want to try sparring?"

"With magic?" Tyler asked, eyes wide with surprise and fear.

"Oh god no," Lightning said. "With our blades."

"Oh, that," Tyler sighed. "Sure."

Lightning nodded, darting forward and slashing at him, Tyler blocking it, only for Lightning to slam a kick into his side, making him stagger away. As he slowed to a stop, she slashed again. He twisted out of the way but lost his footing and crashed to the ground, Lightning putting her sword to his throat.

"You're still not watching your footing," Lightning said. "Would you prefer to fight Fang?"

"Nope," Tyler said, pushing himself up. "Again."

Lightning nodded and stepped back, Tyler following and slashing. She knocked his keyblade aside and he spun, slashing from the other side. She blocked it, now standing behind him, and push-kicked him, knocking him to the ground. He tolled over to find Lightning's sword again at his throat.

"You're making sloppy mistakes," Lightning said. "You're better than this."

He sighed, summoning his keyblade to his hand again and knocking her sword away before standing and slashing at her, Lightning leaning back out of the way then kicking him back to the ground and sighing.

"Fang, your turn," Lightning said, turning and walking away.

Tyler scrambled to his feet and spun in time to duck out of the way of a jab from Fang's spear. She spun, swiping at him from the other way and he blocked it, the other end of her staff flipping down under her arm and up at him, Tyler stepping out of the way again. Then, he stepped forward, slashing at Fang, who bent backward under it and spun her staff, the shaft of it cracking him under the jaw. He crashed to the ground, rolling to the side and getting his feet under him in time to swipe a jab aside. Then, he stepped forward only for her staff to break apart into three sections. His eyes widened as the other end swung around and slammed into the side of his head, knocking him to the ground as she put the blade of the staff to his throat.

"Not bad," Fang said. "Where was that skill while you were fighting Lightning?"

Tyler looked up at her, seeing the knowing grin, and pushed himself up, clearing his throat and looking around at the crowd, the males all grinning. He would love to see any of them try and fight one of the girls. As he turned, he caught movement to his left and leaned back in time to lean out of the way of a jab from Lightning. He jumped backward, landing on his feet before diving to the side and out of the way of Fang's staff, landing in a roll. He stood, turning and blocking Lightning's sword before her foot collided with his chest. For all their talk about how good he should do against Lightning, it was hard to fight against her when she was constantly kicking him. He was just glad she wasn't shooting him. He rolled backward as Fang's staff smacked the ground where he had been, then turned, catching a kick from Lightning and blocking her sword. He turned, pulling Lightning's leg and making her fall to the ground before twisting and deflecting a swipe from Fang. As soon as he did, he jumped, flipping to the side and stabbing the keyblade into the ground to complete the flip, Fang's staff smacking the flat of the blade on Lightning's forehead.

"Ow!" Lightning said, rubbing her head.

"Oops," Fang said, shrugging and turning after Tyler, finding him holding the keyblade to her throat, breathing hard. "Impressive."

"It was a fluke," Tyler said.

"It's improvement," Lightning said, standing just as several strong-looking males walked over.

"You are very good," one of them said. "But perhaps we could show you how a real man fi-" He stopped speaking when Lightning grabbed his hand, stepping around him and putting him in an arm-bar, slamming him to the ground and pressing on his elbow.

"Yield?" Lightning asked.

"Yes!" the man shouted.

Lightning released him and Tyler shrugged as he stood, working the pain out of his elbow.

"Okay, so maybe you're better than we thought," the man said. "Will you train us?"

"I've got it," Fang said. "You keep teaching Tyler that the keyblade's not his only weapon. Maybe take it away from him for a bit."

Lightning nodded, putting her gunblade away, Tyler letting the keyblade disappear as Fang walked a short distance away from them with the men that wanted to be trained, all of whom held their spears. Lightning spent an hour or so training Tyler to fight barehanded before beginning to beat him to a pulp. He wasn't good at fighting barehanded, and she had no intention of being gentle. Finally, as the sky began to darken and the atlanteans had all left, the commander arrived with several of his gas-mask-wearing troops and Milo's friends, all of them carrying guns.

"Hey, what're you carrying guns for?" Tyler asked as Lightning's hand rested on her gunblade.

"Well it's quite simple," the commander said. "It's like I told the king. They're to remove obstacles we find. And we have found an obstacle."

"You're going to shoot the king?" Tyler snarled, summoning the keyblade.

"That fancy sword of yours won't do you any good," the commander said. "You take a step, and I put a bullet in your pretty friend with the pink hair's head."

"Commander-"

"Call me Rourke," the commander said. "Commander is so...formal."

"Rourke," Tyler said. "If you do this, you have no idea what kind of problems you'll cause."

"Relax," Rourke said. "Milo is about to get back and tell us. Now let's go. It's a bit of a walk."

Tyler glanced at Lightning who nodded, hand still on her gunblade. Tyler sighed, nodding and turning walking away from the soldiers, Lightning and Fang following. "We don't know where we're going."

"Straight ahead until you hit water," Rourke said. "Can't miss it."

A few minutes later, they stopped at the edge of the water just as Milo resurfaced, staring up at them.

"Hello Milo, have a good swim?" Rourke asked.

"What's..." Milo trailed off, staring at the guns.

"They're going to shoot the king," Tyler said.

"I'm so stupid," Milo sighed. "This is just another treasure hunt for you."

Just then, Kida surfaced, only to be dragged out of the water by the hair. She fought back instantly, taking two soldiers down and drawing a knife to kill one, only for Rourke to shoot the knife out of her hand, a pair of soldiers dragging her off of the other, Kida kicking him in the groin on the way.

"Don't be like that Milo," Rourke said. "After all, you're the one that got us here. You led us right to the treasure chest. Sorry we didn't tell you but it was on a need to know basis. And now you know. We just needed to be sure you were on our side. Welcome to the team sport."

"I'm no mercenary," Milo snarled.

"Mercenary," Rourke snorted. "I prefer the term 'adventure capitalist.'"

"You don't know what you're dealing with Rourke," Milo said.

"What's to know?" Rourke asked. "It's big, it's shiny, it's gonna make us all rich."

"You think it's some kind of diamond, I thought it was some kind of battery," Milo said. "We're both wrong! It's their life force. That crystal is the only thing keeping these people alive! You take that away and these people will die!"

"Well, that changes things," Rourke said. "Helga, what do you think?"

"Knowing that, I'd double the price," Helga said.

"Rourke, don't do this!" Milo pleaded.

"Academics," Rourke said. "You never want to get your hands dirty. Think about it. If you gave back every stolen artifact from a museum, you'd be left with an empty building. We're just...providing a necessary service to the archeological community."

"Not interested," Milo snarled.

"You're an idealist, just like your grandfather," Rourke said. "Do yourself a favor, don't be like him. For once in your life, do the smart thing."

"You'd never escape alive," Tyler said. "Legend has it Atlantis was swallowed by a flood. Maybe _the_ flood, as in the biblical one. If that's the case, what do you think is keeping that same flood from finishing the job today?"

"The stone cavern we're in," Rourke said.

"Stone cavern huh?" Tyler asked. "No. We left the stone cavern when we reached the bridge. It's hard to tell here because the crystal simulates day and night, but we're not surrounded by stone. It's water."

"Well, by the time the crystal stops holding the water back, we'll be on our way out," Rourke said.

"We'll stop you," Tyler warned.

"As I said before, you move, your pink-haired friend dies," Rourke said. "And I suppose we've also run out of options for negotiating with Milo, haven't we?" He snapped his fingers.

Kida shouted in surprise as she was shoved to the ground, the soldier aiming a rifle at her.

"Let's try this one more time," Rourke said, holding out a piece of paper to Milo. "Read."

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Heartless

Tyler knelt beside the king as he watched Rourke, Milo, Helga, and Kida sink into the ground. Rourke had punched the king, but being fifty thousand odd years old, the equivalent of about a hundred in normal people time according to Milo, the old man's frail body hadn't been able to take the blow. It was shutting down and bleeding internally.

"Hang on, we can heal you," Tyler said, summoning his keyblade and casting the usual healing spell.

The light faded after a moment, however, and left him in the same state.

"I...I don't understand," Tyler said, looking to Lightning and Fang, who wore matching emotionless masks. "Why isn't it working?"

"Even magic can only heal so much," Lightning said. "He's beyond our help."

"What if we both tried?" Tyler asked, Lightning shaking her head.

"You would only tire yourself out," Lightning said. "You're going to need your strength."

"For what?" Tyler asked.

"Stopping Rourke," Lightning said.

"But the king-"

"Will die either way," Fang said. "Think about it Tyler. Rourke is taking the crystal. If he succeeds, even _if_ you healed the king, the entire city of Atlantis, to include the newly healed king, would die anyway. We can't let Rourke escape."

Tyler nodded, staring down at the King, who stared back up at him knowingly.

"Save my daughter," the king said. "Please, save Kida."

"We will," Tyler said.

Just then, the circle of stone rose back up to them with three people and what looked like a woman made of crystal. It took Tyler several moments to realize that the crystal woman, who was now walking toward the bridge, was Kida.

"Milo, what the hell happened?" Tyler asked.

"She fused with the crystal," Milo said as they all walked away.

He followed, leaving Tyler and his two companions behind with the King and Sweet, who was tending to the king.

"Your majesty, may I ask a question?" Tyler asked.

The king nodded.

"Have any other outsiders passed through here?" Tyler asked. "A young girl, or a woman with pink hair like my friend?"

"No," the king said. "Why are you looking for them?"

"They were taken by creatures called heartless," Tyler said. "I haven't seen any heartless here, but I thought maybe our family might be."

"You mean the dark ones," the king said. "The crystal holds them at bay."

"What?" Tyler asked, eyes widening as Lightning and Fang both stared at him.

"Before the crystal, the dark ones invaded our world," the king said. "They destroyed everything they touched. They turned our people on each other, brother against brother, friend against friend. They turned them into monsters. We could not hold them back. But then, we found the crystal. It possessed the power to drive back the dark ones, and since then they have not returned. I fear without the crystal, the dark ones may return. If your friends were taken by the dark ones, then I'm afraid they are not here. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Tyler said. "If the heartless return before we can get the crystal back, we'll deal with them. It's kind of what we do."

Just then, the ground shook with an explosion. Tyler looked to Sweet, who didn't look surprised.

"That'll be the bridge," Sweet said. "Rourke's plan to keep the Atlanteans from following us after the crystal."

"Your majesty, do you have another way out?" Tyler asked. "Anything we can use to go after Rourke without the bridge?"

"There should be some fliers left on the far side of the city," the king said, pointing. "You will need crystals. My guards will accompany you."

The two guards, twins with matching "J" shaped tattoos on opposite sides of their faces, nodded. Tyler, Lightning, and Fang left, following the guards until they found a couple dozen stone sculptures of fish and hammer-head sharks. They all walked to one of the sharks, staring at the writing and design in front of what was clearly a seat.

"What is this?" Tyler asked. "This is a flier?"

He brushed his hand over the design, wiping off a layer of dust before pulling vines off of it. He looked around. The area they were in had been under water earlier, but it looked like the water had all disappeared without the crystal, just as the cavern had darkened. Tyler found a small slot and stopped.

"I think I need a crystal," Tyler said.

"You do," Milo said, walking toward him with a crystal. "Place your hand gently on the pad, insert a crystal, half a turn left, quarter turn back. Then you can take the crystal out and still fly it."

"Is there a limit to its battery?" Tyler asked.

"Not sure," Milo said.

"Is the king..." Tyler trailed off as Milo stared at the ground.

"We need to get moving," Milo said.

"Right," Tyler nodded as Atlantean warriors began to walk over, one of them handing Tyler, Lightning, and Fang each a crystal, which only glowed faintly now, as opposed to their bright luminescence before.

All three pulled the crystals on, watching as Milo started up a fish, lifting off into the air. The others quickly doing the same. Tyler glanced at Lightning and followed Milo's instructions, his shark lurching forward and into a wall. He groaned, gently setting his hand back on the pad and focused, thinking what he wanted the vehicle to do, and the vehicle responded. He lifted his hand and thought, again it responded. He smiled.

"Not so hard," he said. "Milo! We may get some unwanted guests that try to interfere with the mission! They're not human so leave them to me, Lightning, and Fang!"

Milo nodded as the vehicles all lifted off into the air before speeding away from the city. Before they were even at the edge of Atlantis's raised section, darkness began to condense on the walls of the cavern and the ceiling above them, hundreds of thousands of glowing yellow eyes appearing in it. Heartless began to pour out of the darkness, humanoid ones with white and blue striped bandannas with purple bat-like wings, ones that looked similar but with a brown leather cap with a propeller on top and smaller brown bat wings, giant dragon-like creatures with shredded wings in place of front legs, larger similar creatures in a variety of colors and with crooked tails, spiked tails, barbed tails, and one tail on fire. There were heartless that looked like knights in several colors of armor and in several sizes, all of them wearing spiked knuckle guards and with a pair of massive spirals as wings. There were pot-shaped heartless that came in blue, green, yellow, and red. There were heartless that looked like humanoids but with a pair of horns, more spiked bat wings, sharp teeth, and claws.

"Heartless!" Lightning shouted.

"What are those things!?" Milo shouted.

"Keep going!" Tyler shouted, summoning his keyblade. "We'll handle them!"

Milo nodded and Tyler's group arched up at the cloud of heartless above them, screams echoing from below. Tyler slashed his keyblade, focusing hard and sending out several fireballs, gritting his teeth as he felt the drop in his strength. The fireballs exploded among the heartless, destroying a dozen, and the concussion shook Tyler's vehicle. He reached down instinctively, placing his hand on the pad again, a beam of energy shooting out of its mouth into the heartless, blasting a couple dozen of them in a line. He grinned, flying into the gap he had made, the heartless ignoring the city in favor of the closer target. A heartless flew at him from the right and he slashed it, destroying it. Another flew at him and he slashed that as well, then slammed his hand into the pad again, blasting even more. He shot along through the cloud, slashing a line of heartless before the cloud began to disperse, thinning rapidly as bullets began to fly past, along with energy blasts and spells. He launched a fireball into a group of them and they were destroyed, revealing Fang flying toward him, staff spinning rapidly and slashing anything that got close to her.

Tyler blasted more with his vehicle's cannon and they were replaced by a gigantic, red, dragon-like heartless that flew down at them, bellowing a deafening roar. Tyler shot up at it, Fang dealing with the heartless below him. As he neared it, Tyler fired an energy blast into its face, the blast exploding and the heartless roaring in pain before a wall of fireballs shot down at Tyler from above. He slashed one, the keyblade sending it flying backward into another, both exploding, then shot around another, getting up beside the heartless and slashing, carving its side open from neck to the tip of its tail, where Tyler veered away from it. The heartless roared, curving around and flying at him again, only for him to send a bolt of lightning into its head from the tip of his keyblade. He fired an energy blast into the heartless ahead of himself, clearing himself a path as the creature roared, flying after him. A smaller tan one flew at him from the right and he slashed downward, forcing it into the larger one's path where it was crushed by the larger one's teeth. Tyler flipped his shark over, blasting the heartless again as he rolled right-side-up again, slashing along its underbelly then removing its right foot. It roared again just as Lightning burst out of the cloud of heartless, opening fire with her gun, the bullets tearing into the heartless at the same time as both she and Tyler blasted it with their vehicle's energy blasts.

The creature roared, beginning to fall only to snap its wings open, streaking around at Lightning as a massive fireball formed in its jaws. Tyler hurled the keyblade, the weapon spinning as it flew into the fireball, causing it to explode. Pieces of the heartless's head flew in every direction as the body faded into smoke and shadow, Tyler summoning the keyblade back to himself in time to slash a pair of flying knight heartless out of the air.

"There are too many!" Lightning shouted as the cloud above them began to press downward, both diving and blasting their way through the heartless until they found Fang, clearing a space around her before forming into a V and taking off into the heartless again, blasting and slashing their way through them.

Finally, a light began to shine from below and they dove, breaking free of the heartless and looking around, seeing a massive sphere of energy, with a ring of energy spinning around it, sending out beams of light into the heads of a couple dozen massive stone statues that began to walk toward the edges of the pillar. At the same time, beams of light began to be fired into the horde of heartless, destroying them rapidly and causing them to retreat back toward the spots of darkness they had formed.

"We won!" Tyler grinned just as one wall exploded, massive chunks of molten rock flying inward as lava flooded out of the hole.

Below them, the statues held their hands out, forming energy shields that began to grow, blocking molten rocks and quickly forming a dome.

"Get inside!" Tyler shouted, the other two both nodding and streaking downward rapidly.

A single heartless, a dragon-like one with a purple body and a blade-like tail, shrieked as it shot down from above, passing Tyler and ignoring the energy blast he sent into its back as it shot toward Lightning. He swore, pushing his flier to go faster, feeling it beginning to shudder beneath him. Lightning shouted in surprise and pain as the heartless flipped and slashed with its tail, splitting her back open and destroying her flier. Tyler leapt off of his, summoning his keyblade in time to drive it into the heartless's thigh, pulling himself downward. He could see Lightning, now struggling to keep from slipping off the heartless's snout and into its mouth. He pulled himself up, gripping the front of the heartless's wing and ripped the keyblade out, driving it into the heartless's chest, twisting and making it curl, roaring in pain. He pulled himself to the keyblade before focusing and spinning, ripping his blade out of the heartless just as a sphere of gravity magic appeared around the heartless, rapidly crushing it into oblivion.

Tyler looked around wildly, seeing the dome rapidly nearing completion below them, Fang inside now, and Lightning tumbling above him, seeming unconscious. He spread his arms and legs for a moment, catching her as she passed, then tilted his body, shooting sideways to the flier that fell lifelessly beside him. He shoved his crystal into it, starting it up, and clung onto it with one hand and Lightning with the others, shooting downward rapidly. Just as they reached the dome, he dove off with Lightning, the pair slipping through the last of the opening less than a second before it closed and the flier exploded against the dome just before lava surged over it. Tyler turned so that he would crash down first, for what little good it would do, only for Fang and Sweet to reach them, flying downward and grabbing the pair, leveling out just before hitting the ground then landing. Tyler dropped to his knees, his entire body trembling and weak from the after effects of nearly falling to his death, and set Lightning on the ground, healing her. For a moment, nothing happened. Finally, her eyes fluttered open just long enough for her to smile up at him before she passed out again.

"She's going to be okay," Sweet said. "Whatever you did, she's fully healed now."

"The heartless wasn't able to infect her either," Fang said. "She's going to be fine. She just needs rest."

Tyler nodded as he stared up at the already solidified lava around them, and at Kida, who was still glowing like the sun. Just as he did, cracks began to spread over the stone before it crumbled away and water surged outward from the center of the raised area once again, steam shooting up to fill the area for a moment. Tyler sighed as he saw things were okay again just as a beam of light reached down from the ball of light above them. After a moment, Kida floated down from the steam still filling the air above them and Milo rushed forward, catching her when she reached him. Tyler smiled as she stirred, staring up at him.

"Milo?" Kida whispered, seeming exhausted.

Milo smiled until she held up a small bracelet, tears forming in her eyes. He hugged her and she cried into his shoulder for several minutes until he pushed her back and nodded past her. She turned to look and smiled, seeing that her city was back to how it should be, the Atlanteans waiting below the cliff they were on and cheering when Kida stepped up to the edge.

"We should probably go soon, shouldn't we?" Tyler asked.

"Yes," Fang nodded, pulling her and Lightning's crystal off. She reached for his but it flashed, light passing along the blade of his keyblade for a moment before fading. She grinned. "Looks like you found a keychain."

"Really?" he blinked, staring at it. "If you say so."

Fang handed her two crystals to Kida who smiled and accepted them, nodding, before Fang walked back over to the others, pulling out a small crystal sphere, their mysterious pilot's face appearing in it.

"We're ready," Fang said.

The pilot nodded and a moment later, the three of them were enveloped by light and teleported back to the ship.

"No sign of them?" Vanille asked.

"No," Tyler said, picking Lightning up gently. "I'm going to put her in her bed. Then I'll fill you guys in."

Vanille nodded and he walked out of the room.

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Relaxing

Tyler groaned as he rolled over on his bed. He hated flying. Not because he got motion sick, or because it always felt cramped despite the ship actually being ridiculously massive inside despite being tiny outside. He hated flying because he always felt bored. It was briefly alleviated whenever Fang and Lightning were beating him to a pulp in their training sessions, but aside from those, he usually spent the time locked in his room. Not because he particularly disliked the others. He just always felt out of place when the only conversations were between them all with him having nothing to say. His world, unlike theirs, had been extremely boring. Nothing ever happened there. In theirs, there was war, monsters, magic. Up until the heartless attacked, there was never anything interesting about Tyler's world.

A knock on the door jarred him from his thoughts. He looked up, wondering who it was. Probably Vanille. She was the most outgoing and was usually the one who tried to get him to hang out, even though it usually ended with him sitting off to the side pretending to be paying attention. He walked to the door and opened it, blinking twice to make sure he was seeing right. Before him was Fang, wearing an extremely revealing blue bikini and with a blue towel over one shoulder.

"Underwear or swimming trunks, but you're coming with us," Fang said.

He looked out into the hall, seeing Vanille standing beside Fang in a more conservative bikini, if such a thing existed. "Um, where exactly are we going?"

"We're stopping by a resort world where there's beautiful sunny beaches, a theme park, and crystal clear water," Fang said. "And you're coming with us."

"Just the three of us?" Tyler asked.

Fang grinned knowingly and shrugged. "Lightning said she wasn't interested. And besides that, she has no bathing suit."

"I'm assuming you have more than enough for her to borrow one," Tyler said. "Probably also one that you bought _for her._ Fine. I'll go see if I can convince her."

Fang grinned even wider and Tyler closed his door, changing into a black bathing suit and a black tee-shirt before leaving the room and heading to Lightning's, grabbing a towel on the way from Fang. He knocked on the door and wasn't surprised by the response.

"Go away Fang, I'm not going," Lightning said. "I don't care how many bathing suits you have."

"It's Tyler," Tyler said.

After several seconds of silence, the door opened and Lightning stared at him. "What?"

"You're coming with us," Tyler said. "It's not healthy to be cooped up all the time."

"That's all you ever do," Lightning pointed out.

"And do you really want to have to admit that I was more active than you?" Tyler asked. "You really want to live knowing that you were too afraid to do something that _I_ would?"

"I'm not afraid!" Lightning scoffed.

"Good, then I'll see you upstairs in ten minutes," Tyler said, turning and walking away from the door, feeling her death glare boring into his back as Fang walked over to the door to give Lightning a bathing suit.

Tyler walked to the ship's bridge and stopped, seeing a ball of water in front of them with a tiny island at the top with a water park extending up from it. About ten minutes later, he heard the door open and turned, eyes widening a little as he saw Lightning's outfit. She wore a pair of black flip-flops and a black bikini with two straps from the top of the cups, tying behind her neck, and two reaching around her back. On the bottom, there were two straps around her hips on both sides. The part that made him have to actually put in effort to tear his eyes away was the face that the bikini was arguably smaller than Fang's.

Tyler stared out the window again, fighting to not look back at Lightning. After a couple minutes, Fang leaned her back against the railing beside him.

"Like it?" Fang asked.

"How did you get her to wear that?" Tyler asked.

Fang simply grinned wickedly and pushed off of the railing again, walking over to Vanille. Tyler sighed, watching the world get closer and closer until they finally reached it, everyone but their pilot leaving the ship. Once they were on the beach, Tyler looked around, seeing Sazh and Noel walking away.

"What, you're not socializing?" Tyler asked.

"Nope," Noel said. "I'm going to go pig out."

"I'm going to see if there are any shooting galleries," Sazh said.

Tyler rolled his eyes, turning back to the others. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to go and sun tan," Lightning said, walking away to a nearby tanning chair and lying down, closing her eyes.

"Well, what about you two?" Tyler asked.

Both grinned and grabbed Tyler, turning and hurling him, sending him flying through the air and into the water. He flipped, surfacing and glaring at them. He kept forgetting they were stronger than a normal human. Both smiled, sprinting to the edge of the water and jumping, splashing down behind him. He turned, swiping a hand across the water as they surfaced, a wave shitting both in the face. They opened their eyes, grinning wickedly at him and he grinned. Then, they were in an all-out water war. Within minutes, Vanille had taken pity on Tyler and began to attack Fang as well, removing any concept of teams. After a few more minutes, Tyler turned toward shore, seeing that Lightning had rolled over onto her stomach. He tore his eyes away, grinning and holding his hand out, forming a sphere of water and lifting it out of the water, Fang and Vanille grinning and holding their hands out, using their magic to help him keep it stable as it floated over to hover over Lightning. Then, they let it drop, the water splashing over Lightning, who shrieked in surprise and disbelief, siting bolt upright and glaring daggers at them. Tyler grinned.

"You did _not_ just do that," Lightning growled.

"What're you going to do about it?" Tyler grinned, beckoning her into the water.

Lightning took off at a sprint, leaping into the water and splashing him as she landed, Tyler once again ignoring the fact that she had just jumped twenty feet out to sea, past where the island's beach dropped off into an underwater cliff, before grabbing his ankle and dragging him under. He struggled as they began to wrestle underwater, Lightning using magic to hold them from surfacing. Finally, she managed to get him in a headlock, squeezing, and he tapped her leg, Lightning releasing him. Both swam to the surface, coughing for air before Lightning grinned triumphantly. Then, Tyler splashed her. She coughed, glaring at him before splashing him back. And just like that, the water war was back on. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they all called a truce, heading to shore and to a volley ball net with a ball beside it, Lightning making a beeline for her tanning chair.

Tyler caught her shoulders, turning her toward the volleyball net. "Oh no you don't. I can't play them alone. You're coming with me whether you like it or not."

Lightning rolled her eyes and smiled, walking over to the net and smirking as Tyler stepped up beside her. Vanille served and the ball sailed directly up at the sun, blinding Tyler. Then, as he tried to see where it was, it bounced off of his face and Lightning hit it back toward the net, barely making it over. Tyler pinched his nose to keep it from hurting as Fang tapped the ball, barely making it over the net. He shouted, leaping forward and hitting the ball into the air, landing on his knees and one hand. Instantly, Lightning stepped off of his back, jumping to the ball and spiking it down into the ground on Fang and Vanille's side before helping Tyler up and healing his nose.

"You okay?" Lightning asked.

"Are we winning?" Tyler asked.

Lightning grinned and nodded.

"Then I'm fine," Tyler grinned.

* * *

Tyler groaned, dropping back first into the pool and floating there, groaning again as his entire body throbbed. Never in his life had he played such a brutal game of volleyball. Fang had taken their first point at an insult to her honor. So for the rest of the game, she used the ball to make Tyler a glorified punching bag. He was covered in bruises, welts, and he could swear his foot was broken from Fang spiking the ball onto it. On the plus side, Lightning was as good at volleyball as she was fighting, so while Tyler was being beaten bloody by a volleyball, Lightning had been scoring. In the end, however, Fang had won by one point after bouncing the ball off of the ground into Tyler's manhood.

"That hurt so bad," Tyler groaned.

"You should have seen that coming," Fang smirked.

"How?" Tyler asked, looking at her.

"When do we ever do anything without it turning into a sparring match?" Fang asked.

"Never," Tyler groaned.

"You really did overdo it, though, Fang," Vanille said.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Fang said. "I didn't mean to beat you up so much."

"Thank you," Tyler said, standing. "Where'd Lightning disappear to?"

"I'm not sure," Fang said.

Just then, Lightning walked over, sitting on the edge of the pool and patting the spot next to her, one paper plate in her right hand, the other in her lap. Tyler climbed out, sitting beside her as she held a plat out to him. In it was a piece of fried dough about a foot and a half across, the plate being a lot bigger than he thought now that he was holding it. On top of the fried dough was an unhealthy amount of brown sugar, powdered sugar, and about half as much cinnamon. Tyler grinned from ear to ear.

"You read my mind," Tyler said, tearing a piece off and eating it, grinning even wider.

"Where's ours?" Fang asked.

"You're not my teammates," Lightning shrugged, eating a piece of her own.

Tyler stuck his tongue out at them and Fang flipped him off, grinning and rolling her eyes before she and Vanille left to get food. Tyler and Lightning ate in silence, both simply enjoying having their feet dangling in the water and the food in their laps. Finally, once they had finished, and once Fang and Vanille had returned and eaten theirs, the four of them headed to the resort's casino, Fang and Lightning both going to the poker table, Vanille and Tyler going to watch. After a few hours of playing, both cashed out, getting a good sum from their winnings. They headed outside once they had gotten their munny, heading to the beach and sitting down, staring up at the stars. Despite the lights of the resort, there were still more stars overhead than Tyler had ever seen in his own world. And none of the constellations he grew up with were there.

Suddenly, a loud whistle reached their ears just before the light filled with red lights. Tyler grinned. Another firework went off, green this time. Then white. He dropped his gaze from the sky, watching Lightning as she watched the fireworks show. He studied every beautiful detail of her face as it was illuminated in flashes of alternating colored light. After several seconds, she looked over at him, smiling slightly, Tyler returning the smile. Then, they both looked back up at the sky, watching the fireworks in silence.

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Advice

Tyler pulled his jacket on and stared at his reflection. He was surprised by much his change of outfit had felt natural. It had gone from jeans and a plain teeshirt, to shorts and a teeshirt, and now to a pair of loose cargo pants, a tight black sleeveless shirt and light waterproof jacket. It was tactical, relatively comfortable, and completely different from what he'd like if things had never changed in his life. If not for the heartless.

"What are you doing Tyler?" he mumbled. "Why are you here? You saw the heartless. Is there even a chance she's alive?"

"A small one, yes," Fang said, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," Tyler smiled. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm not going to lie, Alice, and probably Sarah too, are most likely gone," Fang said. "There's no one who's ever lasted more than a day with the heartless without having their heart stolen. We're most likely chasing ghosts."

"Why are you telling me this?" Tyler asked.

"Because you need to have a reason in order to fight the heartless," Fang said. "Wanting to save your niece is an excellent reason, and it's what our goal is going to stay. But you're not a fool or a child. You know what we'll probably find. So you need a new reason. Are you really only here to find Alice? Or does it have something to do with our pink-haired friend?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tyler asked.

Fang snorted in amusement. "I saw you at the resort. Both of you. You were the only one who could get her to socialize. You can't honestly tell me that you haven't though about it at least once. I _know_ you thought about it with me and Vanille."

"I-I didn't-"

"Relax," Fang laughed. "I'm well aware that me and Vanille both wear...less than decent outfits. It's natural that you think about it. But what about Lightning?"

"I..." Tyler trailed off, turning away from Fang.

She remained silent as he stared at his reflection again. One hand gripped the opposite elbow as he sighed. Tears formed in his eyes and fell instantly. Fang let the door close, stepping inside.

"I was supposed to protect her," Tyler said, struggling to keep in control. "I was supposed to look after her."

Fang pulled him into a hug. Tyler resting his forehead on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's alright. We won't stop until we find her."

"What do I do?" Tyler asked.

"Just have faith," Fang said. "We'll find her."

"Not that," Tyler said. "My reason to fight them. What do I do?"

Fang sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Keep her safe. No matter what we face, and no matter what happens, keep her safe. That should be enough."

"What if that wasn't what I meant?" Tyler asked.

"I see," Fang grinned, pushing Tyler up. "In that case, good luck. I've never seen her show any interest in anybody, male or female, in a romantic, or even vaguely sexual, way. But she's definitely more open around you. Maybe you've got a chance."

"I see," Tyler nodded. "I doubt it. But maybe."

"Well, for the time being, we have a world to search for you current and future family," Fang grinned.

Tyler snorted, pushing her on the shoulder and they walked to the bridge. As they arrived, Lightning glanced at them before turning back to her weapon, which she was cleaning. Tyler walked to the window and stopped, staring at the darkness before them. He looked down to find one of his hands holding the other elbow. He released it, setting his hands on the railing and sighing quietly.

"We'll find her," Lightning said from behind him.

"I know," Tyler said. " _How_ we find her is what worries me."

Lightning nodded, sighing. She stepped up beside him, leaning on the railing. "Sarah's been gone for six months today. I lost faith in finding her alive after the first week. I know she's gone. But I can't give her a funeral without a body."

Tyler heard her voice waver for a moment and wrapped his arms around her. She turned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"When I first found you, I thought we could stop the same thing from happening to Alice," Lightning said.

"And after she was taken, you were just trying to keep me positive, right?" Tyler asked.

"I'm sorry."

It was barely a whisper, yet he could feel the vulnerability in her voice.

"Don't be," Tyler smiled. "Maybe Sarah escaped and saved Alice."

Lightning smiled, stepping back and nodding. She smiled up at him for a moment before looking out at the darkness again, turning to lean on the railing, Tyler doing the same.

"Who's coming on this one?" Lightning asked after a moment.

"You and Vanille," Tyler said.

Lightning grinned. "You really _do_ surround yourself with girls, don't you?"

Tyler blushed but snorted in amusement. "Not my intention. But hey, I'm game."

Lightning punched him in the shoulder, laughing. Tyler smiled, watching as a world drifted into view. It looked a lot like Earth, only with the famous clock tower in London extended from one side, and a red, three-mast clipper ship on the other, that half being entirely water.

"So are we starting in the city or the ocean?" Tyler asked.

"Ocean," their pilot said.

"Are you ever going to show your face?" Tyler asked. "Or tell us your name?"

"No," he grunted.

"Fair enough," Tyler shrugged.

A few minutes later, light enveloped Tyler, Lightning, and Vanille.

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	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Fighting For A Lead

Tyler stared at the waves, watching the ship, the same three-mast ship he had seen before landing on this world, as it tossed and rolled. Rain battered against the shore, pounding against his skin. He squinted as he looked up, staring at the dark clouds overhead. He knew those clouds.

"This world's finished," Tyler said.

"Maybe not," Vanille said. "The heartless may not be here yet. If we can kill the one drawing them, maybe we can save this world."

"Worth a shot," Lightning nodded. "Where is it?"

"Ahoy there!" a young voice shouted.

They all turned, a young red-haired boy wearing green tights with a lighter green tunic, green fairy shoes, and a pointed green hat with a red feather in it landing in front of them. He had a tiny double-edged dagger in his hand and a tiny blonde girl in a matching outfit with a pair of glowing wings that dropped golden glitters as she flow hovering over his shoulder.

"See Tink," the boy said, "It's not him. Sorry, she thought she saw our friend."

"Okay," Tyler nodded. "Are you having a problem with monsters?"

"One, yeah," the boy nodded. "I actually came to get help from my friend. He has a weapon that's really effective against a heartless. A keyblade, I think."

'Like this?" Tyler asked, summoning his. "We're here to help. There's not much time, though."

"Okay," the boy nodded. "I'm Peter Pan. This is Tinker Bell. I'll make this quick. The dust is pixie dust and it lets you fly. You have to think happy thoughts to do it, though. After that, control is instinctive."

As Peter was talking, Tinker Bell flew over them, pixie dust covering them all. Tyler stared down at his hands, watching golden dust fall off of them.

"Happy Thoughts huh?" Tyler asked. "Family."

Vanille and Lightning both looked over at him as he began to hover over the ground. He smiled slighter, before settling back to the ground, smile fading. Memories of the nightmare that had taken his family filled his mind.

Vanille sighed, lowering her head and closing her eyes. "Fang." She rose off the ground, hovering before opening them again. "You have to focus on the happy parts. Even if some of the other parts aren't as happy."

Tyler sighed, nodding and trying again. This time, he was able to hold the happy memories in his mind. He looked to Lightning, who was concentrating but going nowhere. She groaned irritably.

"Go," Lightning said. "You need to stop it now."

Tyler nodded and turned, watching Peter and Vanille fly away. After a moment of trial and error, he shot after them. He tested his control, getting used to flying, just before the heartless came into view from around a cliff on the island they had arrived on. It was a massive creature with a giant stone skull for a head, the head alone being about five hundred feet across, with its body being a massive octopus with pitch black skin and blue markings running the length of all of its tentacles.

"Shit!" Tyler breathed. "I don't think my keyblade's big enough."

"Happy Thoughts Tyler," Vanille reminded him. "We can do this. Peter, you find someplace safe to wait. We'll handle this."

"No way," Peter said. "I'm fighting with you."

"No," Tyler said. "She's right. Your knife wouldn't even break the skin on this thing."

Peter thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Be careful."

Tyler and Vanille nodded and took off toward the heartless again. Tyler Swung the keyblade around, launching a barrage of fireballs. As they began to explode against the heartless, one of its massive tentacles swung around at them, Tyler noticing the air behind the tentacle growing hazy.

Tyler flew over the tentacle, slashing it as he passed. Once past it, he flew toward the main body, only to have to fly away from more tentacles. He looked to the side, seeing Vanille launching spheres of transparent grey magic at the octopus rapidly.

"Go now!" Vanille shouted.

Tyler flew up at the octopus again, noticing the tentacles were moving much slower. As he reached the main body, he began to fly around, slashing it rapidly and randomly. The heartless roaring in pain and anger. Tyler launched a fireball into the octopus's aping maw of a mouth, turning to circle the mouth as it exploded.

The explosion sent several teeth flying out of its mouth. Then, a tentacle slammed into Tyler, launching him into the water below. As he surfaced, Vanille's healing spell reached him. He stared up at the heartless, barely seeing any damage. He could feel the happy thoughts slipping, the less happy ending's memory fighting to the front.

"Tyler!" Vanille shrieked suddenly.

He looked up just as a tentacle scooped him up, squeezing. He screamed as he felt his bones straining. Then, suddenly, he was falling. He looked up just as Lightning caught his hand, stopping his fall. Above them, a white-armored knight with a black shield, silver highlights, silver horns, and a double-bladed weapon with curved, jagged blades was tearing into the heartless. There was darkness seeping out of the wounds now, looking like black smoke.

"You're flying," Tyler breathed.

"Yeah," Lightning nodded. "I found my happy thought." She smiled, pulling him up to stand on her feet. "Family."

He smiled and nodded, remembering his life since he met her, from the end of his world to the present. The memories were stained with sadness, but they still made him happy. Then, he remembered the resort, sitting on the beach under the fireworks. He remembered the way she looked, watching the fireworks, smiling at him. A weightless feeling filled him and he lifted off of her feet, summoning her keyblade. Unlike the usual flash, this time, a massive sphere of blinding light appeared around his hand before stretching outward then finally fading, leaving a new keyblade in his hand. This one consisted of a rectangular grip with black sides and notches in the front perfectly formed to his fingers, a guard consisting of a pair of pure white angel wings reaching up and outward from just above his hand then folding back down to meet the bottom of the grip, a chain with a small bolt of lightning as the charm. Above the grip, there was a standard western-style sword blade made out of pure light, with small wisps of light spiraling around the blade in opposite directions, roughly a dozen total spread along the blade.

"New look?"Lightning asked.

"Guess so," Tyler nodded, raising the keyblade. "Let's see."

He sent a blast of magic through the keyblade and a blast of pure light shot out the tip of the blade, punching through its tentacle. It roared in pain and both of them shot upward, tearing into it. Tyler smiled. Suddenly, the fight didn't seem so impossible. He spun as a tentacle shot toward them and grabbed Lightning, flying over the tentacle, slashing it. He spun, hurling her to the main body before flying up to the skull.

There was darkness radiating out of the skull, and when he was level with it, he could see a pair of glowing yellow eyes inside. He narrowed his own eyes, a ball of light forming at the end of his keyblade.

"Rise and shine!" Tyler said, pulling his keyblade back. "Come on out!"

He swung the keyblade with both hands, the ball of light flying into one of the skull's eyeholes, and exploded, making light shine out of the skull. The octopus shrieked in pain, shining before exploding into darkness.

"We did it!" Vanille cheered.

"Not yet," Tyler said, watching the darkness.

Suddenly, the cloud of darkness was cleared away from the center, forming a massive ring around the creature at the center. It was a massive pitch black dragon with glowing yellow eyes and massive claws. Tyler spun his keyblade once before the dragon took off, shooting toward him. He flew forward, rolling out of the way of a swipe, slashing the dragon's side. It roared, batting him aside as it flew at Lightning. Lightning's knight appeared in front of her, lightning flying off of its sword. Then, it slashed, a disk of pure electricity shooting out and into the dragon. It roared, beginning to fall.

Tyler flew to meet it, only for it to flip and take off toward Vanille. She fired a couple of spells at it, and it veered off, flying around her. Tyler stopped to watch as she swung her strange branch around then downward, a dozen small golden barbs flying out with cables attached, wrapping around the dragon and trapping its wings to its sides, the barbs digging into its flesh. Before Tyler could do anything, the dragon's wings broke free, the dragon roaring as it flapped, Vanille being yanked into motion, following the dragon.

"Vanille!" Tyler shouted. "Shit!" He flew after the dragon, which suddenly flipped.

"Oh shit!" Vanille swore.

A moment later, the dragon passed her and flipped again, making the cables wrap around Vanille, immobilizing her and beginning to bite into her skin, earning a scream of pain. The dragon dove and Tyler dove as well, slashing the keyblade, sending out a sphere of compressed wind. The sphere hit the dragon and exploded, the wind blades that shout out of it tearing gashes into the dragon. The dragon roared, tucking its wings as it began to speed up. Tyler swore, hurling his keyblade. The keyblade spun through the air, cutting the cables just ahead of Vanille, freeing her. The blade barely scratched the dragon's tail, but it roared, snapping its wings out and pulling a right angle turn on a dime. Then, Vanille crashed down in the water. Tyler dove in after her, quickly catching her and surfacing, finding Lightning peppering the dragon with bullets and lightning spells. He rose out of the water and stopped beside her, Lightning taking Vanille as Tyler summoned his keyblade again.

Suddenly, the dragon roared, exploding into darkness and falling past them. Tyler watched as the darkness settled on the ship and faded, leaving the ship purple and blue. Then,the ship came alive. Purple flames blazed to life in a pair of spots on the front of the hull above a broken section of boards, which formed a jack-o-lantern smile. The sails unfurled to display their rips and holes, the cannons began to belch purple flames, and a deafening shriek echoed through the air.

"Jesus, it's just one thing after another with this thing!" Lightning growled, Vanille stirring and taking flight again.

"Let's sink this ship!" Tyler snarled.

Lightning and vanille nodded just as the ship lurched forward, shooting into the air, revealing four sail-like fins on the sides of he ship near the bottom, two per side. Tyler rolled his eyes. Of course the ship could fly too. He sighed, flying after the ship. As he caught up to it, he swung the keyblade backward, gripping it with both hands, light shining from the blade. He slashed the ship, light shining from the gash, the ship's face contorting in pain as it roared.

"Watch out!" Lightning shouted.

Tyler's arm raised the keyblade on instinct, a barrier of translucent hexagons forming into a half sphere around him, a volley of purple fireballs crashing into it. The explosion threw Tyler backward into Lightning, who caught him as Vanille launched a fireball. The spell hit a cannon and resulted in an explosion that blew a chunk of the ship off, leaving purple fire burning around the hole. Tyler grinned, he, Lightning, and Vanille blasting the cannons as fast as they could. As the last of the eight cannons exploded, the central mast fell sideways, dropping off the ship and fading into darkness.

"This is almost too easy," Tyler said.

He sent another fireball sailing at the ship, only for the ship to explode, the dragon flying out again. However, half of its body was trailing as darkness. It roared as its body slowly dissolved into darkness, fading as a heart, a stereotypical Valentine's Day shaped one, floated out of the darkness, fading from sight after a few seconds. It seemed the dragon hadn't had enough time to fully reform its body, resulting in its death. Tyler stared up at the clouds as they slowly began to lighten before clearing.

"We did it," Lightning breathed, completely in awe that they had actually won.

"Thank God," Tyler sighed, just as his keyblade flashed, changing back to its normal form. "Now, where's Peter Pan? We need to ask if he's seen Alice or Sarah."

"You did it!" Peter shouted, grabbing Lightning and Vanille in a spinning hug. "Thank you so much!" He grabbed Lightning by the face and kissed her, only for Lightning to slam a fist into his gut, then his jaw.

She began to fall but Tyler caught her bridal style, floating back up level with Peter, both glaring.

"Sorry," Peter said sheepishly, still rubbing his jaw. "You remind me of someone."

Tyler felt Lightning stiffen in his arms. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Some girl named Sarah," Peter shrugged. "She came with this little girl and I helped her fight off a bunch of heartless that were after the little girl."

"Fight? With what?" Lightning asked.

"She had some weapon that went from a sword to a bow," Peter shrugged.

"Did she have pink hair?" Tyler asked, knowing Lightning would want to get specific but not have the heart to risk being wrong. "And was the little girl named Alice?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded.

Just like that, Lightning was shooting through the air, cheering and grabbing Tyler, spinning and hugging him. He hugged her back, laughing and shouting for joy.

"You know them?" Peter asked.

"We've been looking for them," Tyler said. "Do you know where they went?"

"She said something about finding a place the heartless couldn't go," Peter said. "Something about royalty, I think. But then this black portal opened under her and the little girl and they fell through. I don't know where it went, but when the heartless tried to follow, balls of blue fire and waves of normal fire shot out and destroyed them."

"Good," Tyler smiled. "We may not know where they are, but they're being protected."

Lightning nodded, her hand still in his, and looked up at the sky before doubt began to show. "How long ago was this?"

"About two days," Peter said.

Shock filled her face before being replaced by joy. She cheered again and Tyler hugged her, Lightning instantly hugging him back.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Vanille asked.

"Well," Peter said, holding a hand to his chin as he thought. "I could swear I smelled candy from the portal. Oh, and I heard car engines, except really loud and higher pitch than I've ever heard."

"Race cars," Tyler said. "Thanks. We gotta go now. Fang! Take us home!"

Light enveloped them and as it faded, Tyler rolled his eyes at Fang's grin.

"I'm not going to refuse your offer, but just make sure you don't fall for me if I do," Fang grinned, referring to his wording before.

"Hah hah," Tyler said, rolling his eyes again. "Pass thanks. We have to find a world with race cars and candy."

"I know the place," the pilot spoke up instantly. ""It'll be a day of travel."

"Okay," Tyler nodded. "I'm going to sleep. That was an exhausting fight."

"Same," Lightning said.

As Tyler passed Vanille, he paused, leaning close to her ear. "If you love her, be honest with her."

Then, he passed her as she tried to fight her blush off and headed to his room, passing out instantly.

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Race

Tyler looked around as the light cleared. The world around them was made of candy, including a Nesquik sand pit on their left, and a chocolate milkshake river on the right.

"Jesus," Tyler said. "It's Diabetes Land."

"Looks like it," Sazh nodded. "Let's go find someone to talk to. Hopefully they're friendlier than the heartless."

"That wouldn't be hard," Lightning said. "As long as they don't try to kill us for existing."

They began walking, reaching the gate of a massive candy castle after a few minutes. Tyler knocked and the door opened, a sour candy with arms, lehgs, and a face staring at them

"Uh, hey," Tyler said. "We were wondering if we could ask a few questions? We're looking for someone, and we have reason to believe they came here."

"I don't know about that," the sour candy said monotonously. "Follow me. King Candy might know."

He turned, leading them through the castle to the throne room. Once there, all three knelt. King Candy, a human-looking man with a balding, disproportionately large head, candy-themed clothes, and with a body that complimented his head to make him look like a peanut, greeted them happily.

"Welcome!" King Candy said, throwing his arms out wide, Tyler catching a slight speech impediment. "What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for our friends, Sarah and Alice," Tyler said. "Sarah looks like her," he gestured to Lightning, "and Alice is five."

"Someone's gone Turbo?" King Candy gasped.

"Gone Turbo?" Tyler repeated, confused.

"They left their game," the king explained.

"Game?" Tyler asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Their game!" the king exclaimed."In the arcade! Don't tell me you didn't know!"

"We're...not from around here," Sazh said. "So, have you seen them?"

"It would have been about two days ago," Lightning offered, trying to keep her voice even.

"Well," the king said thoughtfully. "I remember someone with a black cloak saying something about finding a safe place."

"I need to know where he went," Tyler said.

"You could try the other games in the arcade and hope you get lucky," the king suggested. "Or, you could race me, and I could show you a replay of the conversation and see if you find a hint."

"Why not just do it anyway?" Sazh asked.

"Where's the fun in that?" the king asked.

"Sazh?" Tyler asked.

"So, all I have to do is race?" Sazh asked. "Not win?"

"Oh you'll never win the race," the king smiled. "Nope, all you have to do is survive until the finish line."

The others stared at him in confusion.

"Oh, right," the king smiled. "The track has traps, boulders, and other obstacles, as well as weapon items."

"Sazh?" Tyler asked again.

"I'll do it," Sazh nodded.

"I'm coming with you," Tyler said. "Lightning, we'll meet you-"

"At the finish line," Lightning finished. "Odin and I are racing too."

"Okay then!" The king smiled. "Let's go!"

He pulled a lever on his throne and a race car body rose out of the floor, his throne being the only seat in the car. The engine of the candy car roared to life, the car streaking out of the castle instantly. Sazh spun, extending his hand before a massive fireball appeared in front of him, burning away and leaving a red and black two-seater race car behind. At the same time, a blinding light appeared before Lightning, leaving a white and silver horse. Tyler stared at the horse, remembering Odin as the knight from Peter Pan's world.

" _That's_ Odin?" Tyler asked.

"He can transform," Lightning said. "Sazh's does the same, but with a different humanoid form."

"Let's go," Sazh said.

Tyler climbed into the second seat, buckling up, and Sazh sped out of the castle, Odin miraculously keeping pace. They caught up with King Candy at the start-finish line, King Candy having already paid their way, it seemed.

"There you are," King Candy said. "Shall we begin?"

Sazh and Lightning both nodded, a light countdown beginning in front of them. As soon as it was green, all three were off, speeding along a winding track, hitting jumps and dodging through candy cane trees at one point. Finally, both pulled ahead of King Candy, passing several floating cubes a moment later.

Tyler looked back as King Candy smashed through a box, a cannon growing out of the nose of his car. "Cannon!"

Sazh and Lightning both swerved, several blasts of superheated chocolate fudge shooting past, followed by King Candy. Both followed after the king, Tyler summoning his keyblade and leaning out, smashing a cube. A jetpack flipped out of the cube into Tyler's lap. He strapped it to the spoiler behind him and hit the big red button with a picture of fire. The car lurched as it surged forward, passing Odin and gaining on King Candy.

Finally, after about a minute and a half, the flames ended, the jetpack shattering like glass. Within seconds, Odin had caught up, Lightning's own jet pack also shattering. Just as Odin caught up, they went over a jump, landing in a long halfpipe with boulders rolling across the track endlessly. Odin and Sazh began to swerve around them, barely avoiding them.

Suddenly, Odin was clipped by a boulder, spinning as Lightning almost fell off. Another boulder reached the top of its wall, rolling back down toward them as Odin tried to regain his bearings, apparently being dizzy.

"Shit!" Tyler swore, seeing the boulder. "Sazh, eject me!"

Instantly, Tyler's seatbelt released him and his seat launched him into the air. Tyler flipped, falling at Odin and landing in time to slam his keyblade into the boulder, which he noticed was frozen ice cream. He felt his arm shatter, but the boulder diverted, rolling past Odin. Tyler leaned over, grabbed Lightning by the back of her shirt as she grabbed the back of his. Then, he pulled, slowly managing to sit back up without his other arm, clinging to Odin with his legs and managing to pull Lightning up. Finally, Lightning swung her leg over Odin, instantly healing Tyler's arm, the arm remaining partially broken. Lightning wrapped her arms around Tyler's torso, holding him against herself as Odin chased the other two.

After a few more minutes, they reached the finish line, Lightning helping Tyler down before healing him again, managing to fix his arm the rest of the way. Tyler sighed, bending and straightening his arm, sighing.

"You have got to have the worst luck I've ever seen," Lightning said.

"No kidding," Tyler said. "I'm sorry about Atlantis."

"Atlantis?" Lightning asked, confused.

"When we fell off the cliff," Tyler said. "And you were stuck in the truck? I almost got you killed."

"The only thin you did was save my life," Lightning said.

"It was my bad luck that made it happen," Tyler said.

"No," Lightning said. "It was just some random shit. Now let it go. It wasn't your fault, and we have other things to attend to."

Tyler nodded, the two of them walking over to Sazh and King Candy.

"Well, that was less fun than I was hoping, but a deal's a deal," King Candy said, holding out a sort of tablet made of chocolate wafers.

On the screen, a man in a black cloak like their pilot's but with a normal height was talking to a second one.

"They're looking for someplace safe," one was saying. "A place where they'll be protected from the heartless."

"They should be pretty safe here," the other said. "Those soldiers across the way have already agreed to look after them."

"Yes, but how long will they last against heartless?" the first asked. "How long will they even stay here?"

"Not long," the second agreed. "I'm going to leave them to you. And don't forget. The Organization is hunting you. The next time we meet, we'll be enemies."

"I know," the first said. "Hopefully I won't see you around. You're a good man."

"You too," the second said.

Then, both disappeared into a pair of black portals and the footage ended. Tyler stared at it, then looked to the king.

"Soldiers?" Tyler asked.

"It's a new game," the king said. "Hero's something-or-other. Some first-person-shooter, I think. You can get there through the tunnel over there."

Tyler looked around, seeing a tunnel in the distance. He thanked the king, then left with the others.

* * *

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	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Games

Tyler looked around at the terminal, staring at the names of the games, and the characters walking or standing around. He knew them. Most, anyway. Sonic, Mario, Q-Bert, a door to Root Beer Tapper's, even the main character from Knock Out.

This place is awesome," Tyler said.

"Nerd Paradise," Sazh chuckled. "Dajh would love it."

" _I_ love it," Tyler said.

"Let's go find the soldiers," Lightning said. "Maybe they're still here."

Tyler nodded, looking around. He could see Virtual Cop down the opposite wall, and while they weren't exactly soldiers, it might work, except that it was supposed to have the word Hero in it. Finally, his eyes spotted it. Hero's Duty.

"Found it," Tyler said, pointing. "Let's go and see what these soldiers can do, shall we?"

Sazh and Lightning nodded, all of them walking down the steps into the station, then across it, Tyler noticing when he passed Chun-Li, Cammy, Satine, and Zangief. He was about thirty seconds away from going full fangirl on all of the video game characters he could find and recognize until he heard Lightning snort in amusement. He glanced at her, seeing her watching him and grinning. He blushed, crossing his arms.

"Okay, so I like video games, big deal," Tyler said.

"I don't even know what these things are," Lightning snorted. "Clearly your world had more in common with other worlds than we thought."

Tyler blinked. She was right. A lot of these games _were_ in his world. He smiled. He didn't feel quite so ashamed of being from his world anymore. He looked to the side, seeing a very attractive, and clearly antagonist, dark elf walking toward them wearing a red strapless dress that sat low on her chest and with a thigh-high slit on the left side. She had long blue hair, and grey skin. Tyler behind her, however, was Bowser.

"She's pretty," Lightning said, Tyler swearing her voice contained a bit of an edge.

"What?" Tyler asked. "Oh, right. Pretty. Yeah. I was actually paying more attention to the giant lizard behind her. I used to play his game for hours."

"What is he?" Lightning asked.

"A koopa," Tyler said. "It's like a cross between a turtle, a dinosaur, and for him exclusively, a dragon.

"That's...really really weird," Lightning said.

"Maybe," Tyler shrugged. "But he's still one of my favorites."

"Are you two coming?" Sazh asked.

"Yeah we're coming!" Tyler called out, he and Lightning jogging to catch up, all of them walking to the tunnel, finding a train waiting.

They climbed on and it took off, following a tunnel that Tyler could only assume was the inside of the power cord, finally pulling into the game's world about five minutes later. They all climbed out, walking to the edge of the access tunnel and watching as swarms of giant monstrous bugs flew around, fighting against soldiers running around in huge armored suits, firing futuristic, at least to Tyler, guns up into the swarm as a robot with a computer screen for a head was led toward the tower, the soldiers struggling to keep the bugs away from the robot. As the robot fired its own gun at the bugs, bugs swarmed it, destroying it before a light appeared above the tower, a huge beam shooting into the sky. The bugs flew toward the beam, exploding into ash as they hit it.

"Real safe," Tyler snorted.

"Yeah," Lightning said. "I don't think this is the right place."

"Who the hell are you?" a voice barked from off to the side.

They turned, finding a woman in formfitting armor, unlike the excessively bulky armor the rest of the soldiers were wearing, with short blonde hair glaring at them.

"Hi, we're...uh...well, we're from away," Tyler said. "We're looking for two people, a girl with pink hair like her," he gestured at Lightning, "and a five year old girl named Alice. I was wondering if you'd seen them."

"Oh, those two," the woman said. "Yeah they showed up. Didn't stay long. That Sarah girl with the pink hair took one look at the bugs and took off. I told her that if she was looking to be safe, the best place would probably be in Street Fighter."

"Alright," Tyler nodded.

Just then, an announcement began, warning that a quarter had ben inserted. The woman swore.

"Those three idiots," she snarled. "They're not back from their bathroom break yet."

"If you need three, we'll give it a shot," Tyler said.

She stared at them. "Can you shoot?"

Sazh held up his pistols, Lightning holding up her gunblade in its gun mode and Tyler shrugged.

"Alright," she shrugged. "There should be a few sets of small armor over there. Whatever happens, don't let yourselves die. You're from a different game, so if you die here, that'll be the end of it. And it's entirely not my problem."

"Understood," Tyler nodded.

She walked away and they turned to the armor racks, grabbing three normal-person-sized suit of armor.

"Why are we doing this?" Lightning asked.

"It looks like fun," Tyler shrugged.

"Yeah, aside from the dying bit," Lightning said.

"Just don't get hit," Tyler said. "You're the strongest person I know. You'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," Lightning sighed as she handed Tyler an assault rifle.

The speakers began to play the game's intro speech as Tyler and the others hopped on the end of the two lines. Then, a robot rolled through, getting to the front and stopping as the woman drew her rifle.

"We are humanity's last hope," the woman said, giving her practiced speech. "Our mission? Destroy all Cy-bugs. You ready rookie? Let's find out."

The doors behind her opened, lowering into a ramp to reveal a dark and storm-covered sky, and the glowing green robot bugs Tyler had seen earlier swarming around again. The woman and robot took off at a sprint, at least for the woman since the robot was on wheels, and the soldiers all went after them, Tyler and the others following, everyone opening fire. It was chaos instantly. Bugs began to swarm at them from all sides, and Tyler instantly lost track of what the actual characters were doing. He saw one being carried off and ripped apart, and another was knocked off of a bridge that they were on. He fired rapidly, reloading every time he needed to by pulling the mag out and slamming it back in, glad he knew how games worked. At his side, Lightning and Sazh shot anything that tried to get near them, both a better shot than Tyler. As they reached the end of the bridge, they came to a large flat area where the insects swarmed down at them all at once. Tyler swore, flipping the gun to full-auto and firing up into the swarm, Lightning and Sazh doing the same. The bugs exploded rapidly, pieces of them bouncing to the ground around them. Finally, the bugs peeled off their attack, Tyler glancing to the side to see that the robot and the woman, along with a couple of soldiers, were heading for a massive door, which, intuition told him, would release its own swarm when they did.

He turned as the door opened and dozens of insects exploded out, flying at them. Tyler opened fire over the character, both of them doing the same. However, after a minute, a bug flew down and grabbed Lighting. She shouted in surprise and Tyler summoned his keyblade, hurling it at the bug and splitting it in half before diving, catching Lightning before she could hit the ground. She rolled off of him instantly, firing and blasting several bugs that were trying to reach them, their glowing green blood splattering over the pair. Tyler pushed himself up, wiping the blood off, then picked up his gun, sighing.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Tyler said.

"You think?" Lightning asked.

Just then, the robot's head was ripped off and the beam of light, which the game called a beacon, appeared, all of the thousands of bugs that remained flying up into it, dying. Tyler sighed and looked to Sazh, who bent forward, resting his hands on his knees for a moment before standing and giving him a thumbs up.

"That was pretty good target practice, if it wasn't able to kill us," Sazh said.

Tyler nodded and they headed back to the beginning as the rest of the surviving soldiers did the same, the three they had replaced arriving as they got there.

"Thank God," Tyler sighed. "I'm done with this game."

Lightning and Sazh both nodded in agreement and they all put their armor, and Tyler's gun, back where they had found it, heading back to Game Central Station. Once they had arrived, they took a trolley to Street Fighter and climbed out, arriving just as two of the characters, a blond guy with his hair reaching his shoulders and a reg martial arts outfit and a brunette guy with a high-and-tight and a white martial arts outfit, got there from where they were obviously supposed to fight.

"Hello," the brunette greeted them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tyler," Tyler said. "This is Lightning, and Sazh. We're from away. We were told someone was sent here recently, a girl that looks a lot like Lightning and a five-year old?"

"Hm," the brunette said, thinking. "Yeah, I think I _did_ see them. They were here yesterday, I think."

"Do you know where they went?" Lightning asked.

"I think...I heard something about...candy?" the blond said. "Yeah. Something about candy."

"You're sure?" Sazh asked.

"Yeah why?" the brunette asked.

"Because we just came from there," Tyler said.

"Maybe the king didn't know she went back," Sazh suggested.

"Maybe," Tyler said, clearly not trusting the king anymore. "Come on. We should get back. If she's been here for two days, there are probably going to be heartless here soon. If they aren't here already."

Lightning nodded in agreement and they all turned, leaving the game again, heading back to Game Central Station to go back to Sugar Rush.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Trouble Maker

As Tyler and the others stepped out into the station, a ship suddenly shot out of Hero's Duty, flying around and around the station, breaking a lot of benches and the little round screens for news and such that were there before flying past in front of Tyler and the others. Sitting in the pilot's seat with a baby cy-bug on his face was a massive man with disproportionate hands, a red tee-shirt, and brown overalls with the left strap missing. After another moment, the ship shot into the tunnel leading to Sugar Rush and Tyler sighed.

"That can't be good," Tyler said. "Come on. Let's go kill that thing."

Lightning and the others nodded and they all jogged through the tunnel to Sugar Rush. They stopped just inside, looking around. In front of them, there was a trail of destruction leading through the candy cane forest. In the distance, the ship had plowed into the ground just shy of falling off a cliff and was smoking. Tyler shook his head slowly.

"Come on," Tyler said.

They all ran through the forest, following the destruction until they reached the ship, finding that it was empty. Tyler looked around, but there was no sign of anyone. He could see the castle, however, and he wanted to have a few words with King Candy. Lightning stepped up beside him, also staring at the castle.

"Let's go," Lightning said. "We're going to talk to King Candy again."

"You read my mind," Tyler nodded.

They turned, walking away from the ship and finding a path that lead to the castle. Tyler knocked on the door and the same sour candy opened it. He sighed, turning and walking away from the door. Tyler and the others followed, stopping in front of King Candy, who looked exasperated, despite his smile.

"I thought you all went to Hero's Duty," the king said.

"We did," Tyler said. "And then to Street Fighter. Come to find out, they said that Sarah and Alice had come back here about a day before we showed up."

"They did?" the king asked. "I swear I don't know anything about that."

"I see," Tyler nodded, not believing him for a second.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a giant and a glitch to catch," the king said.

He pulled the lever and his throne once again transformed into a car, speeding out of the castle again. Tyler looked to Lightning, who nodded to show she knew he was lying as well, then turned, walking out of the castle with the others. As soon as they were outside, Tyler looked around, seeing a massive coke-bottle-shaped mountain in the distance.

"We can probably get a good view of this place from up there," Tyler said, nodding in the direction of the volcano.

"Probably," Lightning said. "We'll be able to see any decent hiding places, on the off chance that King Candy's telling the truth."

They headed in that direction, walking silently. Once they reached the base of the volcano, Tyler looked around for any way up it, seeing none.

"I guess we're climbing," Tyler said.

Just as he reached out to the volcano, the whining roar of race cars reached their ears and they scattered into the gumdrop forest they were in, hiding. From off to one side, the guy from the ship came barreling out of the gumdrops, pushing the cart with his hands since it wasn't running. In the driver's seat sat a young girl with candy stuck in her hair, a blue sweatshirt, white pants, and a hand pointing at the base of the volcano where two lollipops were crossing like a doorway. A moment later, the cart hit the mountain, then passed through it, the mountain distorting and turning green between the lollipops for a moment before returning to normal, King Candy and a few donut cops skidding to a stop. King Candy looked livid.

"Find them!" King Candy shouted, not even remotely kind now. "Destroy that cart! That glitch _cannot_ be allowed to race!"

Then, he sped off, the cops following him. Tyler walked out of cover once they were gone, staring at the mountain. He walked over to it, reaching out tentatively, but his hand passed through the wall without him even feeling it being there. He looked to the others who both nodded. Then, he summoned his keyblade and stepped through the wall, the other two following him. On the other side, they were in a dark tunnel, light coming from up ahead. They walked along the path in silence, hearing voices up ahead.

"Welcome to my home!" a young female voice was saying.

Tyler stopped as they reached the cart, the voices and light coming from just around the corner. They stopped as they reached the corner, standing just in the shadows but taking in the scene. They were at what looked like an unfinished track, pieces of road stuck to the inside of the volcano on all sides. The bottom of the volcano was boiling Diet Coke, and the ceiling of the cavern above them had a massive formation of Mentos stalactites.

"Well that's an eruption waiting to happen," Tyler whispered, looking to the guy they had followed and the little girl.

"Everyone here says I'm just a mistake and that I wasn't supposed to exist, what do you expect?" the girl was saying now, lying on a a bed of garbage.

"Listen, kid, I know it's none of my business, but why do you even stick around this game?" the big guy asked.

"You really don't know anything do you?" the girl asked. "Glitches can't leave their games. It's one of the joys of being me."

Tyler leaned his back against the wall. Clearly Sarah and Alice weren't here, but now that he had heard about the girl's problems, he wanted to help. He could see that Lightning did too, she just didn't want to show it.

"What do we do?" Lightning whispered. "Help her? Or keep looking for Sarah and Alice?"

"What happens to her is none of our business," Tyler said. "But I can't just leave having heard all that. I'm too soft for that."

Lightning nodded. The three of them walked out of the tunnel and the girl gasped, the big guy stepping between her and them.

"We're not here to hurt anyone," Sazh said. "We're here to help."

"How?" the guy asked.

"However you need," Tyler said. "My name's Tyler. This is Lightning and Sazh."

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz!" the girl said, stepping around the bigger guy.

"I'm Wreck-It Ralph," the bigger guy said.

"Nice to meet you both," Tyler nodded. "Now, what do you guys need?"

"Well," Ralph said. "She doesn't know how to drive a car."

"I can teach her," Sazh said. "We'll need someplace for her to drive though."

Ralph turned, beginning to punch the ground, arms moving in a blur and shattering the ground as he ran around the edge of the Diet Coke, forming a mostly round track. Sazh nodded approvingly as Ralph carried the cart to the track, setting it down.

"Okay," Tyler said. "What else?"

"I can't really think of much else," Ralph shrugged.

"I can," Lightning said. "I want to go take a look inside of that castle again. This time without being escorted."

"Deal," Tyler nodded. "Sazh, we leave them to you. We'll be breaking into the castle if you need us."

"Wait, you're doing what?" Sazh asked, Tyler simply raising a hand in farewell as he and Lightning walked away. "Oh this is going to end so badly."

* * *

Tyler looked up at the window over twenty feet off the ground. No way was he going to be able to climb that. Never. The wall was smooth.

"How are we getting up there?" Tyler asked.

"Like this," Lightning said, sweeping him off of his feet into a bridal carry and jumping, easily clearing the height and slipping into the window with him, setting him on his feet.

"That works," Tyler said. "Isn't the guy supposed to sweep the girl off of _her_ feet, though?"

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Come on. We need to find the dungeon."

Tyler looked around. They were in a bedroom with a massive bed, a half dozen wardrobes, and a pair of shackles attached to the wall opposite the bed, as well as shackles attached to each of the four bed posts.

"You sure we're not there already?" Tyler asked, indicating the shackles.

Lightning covered her mouth as she snorted before shaking her head. "I don't even want to know. Come on."

She cautiously opened the door and peeked out, leaving the room with Tyler following her. As they walked, Tyler took in the massive structure. Everything was pink. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the candy chandeliers. Everything. Somehow, that didn't seem to fit with King Candy's personality. Especially given what they saw outside the volcano. Finally, they stopped as they reached a balcony overlooking the courtroom. They both crouched down, peering through the gaps in the railing's supports. Below them, King Candy was pacing in front of his throne. Two of the cops walked in, reporting that they couldn't find Vanellope and he sent them away. Then, he walked through a curtain behind his throne. Tyler pushed himself up a bit, staring.

"What's back there?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know," Lightning said.

"Help me down," Tyler said.

Lightning picked him up, dropping to the ground floor and set him down, Tyler silently jogging to the curtain and peeking through. A white door sat behind it, and Lightning slipped her gunblade between the door and the wall, levering it open an inch, allowing Tyler to peek through. Behind the door, several power cords, each as big around as Tyler's arm, ran along the short hallway's walls and ceiling, blue electricity running through them every few seconds. On the other end of the hallway, there was a massive round blast door with a gigantic Atari controller set into the bottom half. As Tyler watched, the King pulled out a napkin with something written on it, then reached up to the door.

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start," King Candy said, pressing the Atari's buttons as he read it.

A series of short beeps sounded from the door and it sank into the wall a couple inches before turning a quarter turn clockwise and splitting in half, opening. The king tied a lickerish rope around his waist, which the sour candy assistant of his held.

"The code is the sweet life blood of the game," the king muttered to himself before jumping into the void ahead of him where hundreds, if not thousands of boxes floated, wires attached at the top and bottom of each, electricity running through them. King Candy floated through the clearly gravity free room to the boxes, looking around before poking one twice, a ring of smaller boxes, each barely the size of a standard six-sided die, appearing out of it. He scrolled through the boxes for a moment before grabbing one, the cords detaching themselves from it and fading. The other boxes faded and he swam through the room to a larger one that, if Tyler was reading it correctly, ready King Candy. He tapped that one twice and a huge cloud of the tiny boxes appeared between him and that box. He held the one he had grabbed earlier out and let go, cords attaching themselves to it before a blue cloth of some kind appeared around the back of the king's neck. Tyler leaned away from the door, Lightning letting it close silently but quickly, then picked Tyler up, jumping them back to the balcony they had been on before, Tyler quickly scanning the area around the balcony to make sure they were safe before both knelt back down and watched the curtain.

"What did you see?" Lightning asked.

"A cheater," Tyler said. "I'll show you once he leaves."

"He's leaving?" Lightning asked.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah," Tyler said.

After a moment, the king returned, getting in his car and taking off. The sour candy remained standing beside where the throne was supposed to be. Tyler glanced at Lightning but before either could do anything, there was a knock at the door. The candy left to check and Lightning jumped them both to the curtain, setting him on his feet. They both ducked behind the curtain, Lightning forcing the door open enough for them to slip through, then stopped, staring at the door.

"What is this?" Lightning asked.

"I think it's the game's coding," Tyler said, walking over to the controller. "What was it?"

He reached out, pressing the buttons from memory, the door beeping and opening as he finished. He sighed, staring at the inside of the room. He picked up the lickerish, tying himself off and Lightning picked up the other end. He stepped out, drifting a little before stopping, looking around. Off to the left, there was a purple box that was floating there, sparking out of the top and bottom every few seconds. He tried swimming, gradually drifting over to it before stopping and grabbing it, looking at the spot int he center of the top where cords were supposed to go. There were pieces of cord there, but they looked like they had been broken, or ripped out. He looked at the face of the box. Vanellope von Schweetz. he looked to the cloud of them and swam back to the door before landing and turning back to the cloud again.

"Vanellope has a...I dunno, code box, let's call it, but it looks like someone, ripped the cords that were supposed to be connected to it out," Tyler said.

"That's...really weird," Lightning said. "Any guesses who?"

"King Candy," both said after a moment.

"Let's find the dungeon," Tyler said. "Something's not quite adding up. And we still need to see if Alice and Sarah are here."

Lightning nodded and Tyler untied himself, tossing the rope aside before walking to the door, the door sliding open this time. He carefully peeked out of the curtain and saw that the coast was still clear. He and Lightning sneaked out from behind it, taking a door to the right of where the throne would be and found themselves at the top of a staircase. They quickly ran down the stairs until they reached a door that looked like it was supposed to be metal but was made out of candy. Tyler summoned his keyblade and slashed it in half, kicking the half that wasn't attached to the hinges out of the way. In front of him, a normal-looking man in a light blue tee-shirt, a blue baseball cap, yellow carpenter gloves, a carpenter belt with a golden hammer, blue jeans, and work boots was standing beside a window. The only thing strange about him beside his bulbous nose was that he stood about two and a half to three feet tall.

"How is there a window if we went down?" Tyler asked.

"Must be in the side of the cliff?" Lightning more asked than said.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"I'm Tyler, this is Lightning," Tyler said. "Is this the only cell?"

"I think so," the man said. "I'm Fix-It Felix Jr. from the game Fix-It Felix Jr. Are you here to rescue me? Also, have you seen a big angry guy with a red shirt and overalls that smells really bad?"

"What, Ralph?" Tyler asked. "Yeah we saw him. I take it he's from your game."

Felix nodded. "He went Turbo."

"Where does that term come from?" Tyler asked as Lightning began to search the room for any sign that Sarah had been there.

"Well, a long time ago, the most popular game in the arcade-"

"Short version," Tyler interrupted.

"Oh, uh, okay," Felix said. "There was a game called Turbotime, and the main character, Turbo, got jealous of another racing game that became more popular than his. So he left his game, tried to steal the spotlight in that game, caused a glitch when he crashed the player's car, and both games got shut down."

"Did he die?" Tyler asked.

"No one knows," Felix shrugged. "No one ever saw him again so everyone says he just disappeared. But now anyone who game-hops into another game to try to steal the spotlight is doing what everyone calls going Turbo."

"I see," Tyler nodded just as Lightning shouted for him. He ran over, looking at her hand where she was holding a necklace.

It had a pendant that was a planet with a chunk missing and a small drill-like point dangling below it.

"What's that?" Tyler asked.

"Sarah's," Lightning said. "She was here."

"How long have you been in here?" Tyler asked Felix.

"Only a couple of hours," Felix said. "It was empty when I got here."

Just then, the wall exploded inward on one side, and Ralph stepped through with a trash can filled with pieces of Vanellope's cart.

"What the hell happened to that?" Tyler asked.

"I did," Ralph said. "Felix, I need you to fix this cart."

"Ralph!" Felix said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Okay that's it," Tyler said. "Ralph is the bad guy in your game, right?"

"Well...yes," Felix said. "But I don't-"

"Where do you live Ralph?" Tyler asked.

"The dump," Ralph said.

"What do you eat?" Tyler asked.

"Bricks," Ralph said.

"What do you sleep on?" Tyler asked.

"Bricks," Ralph said.

"How many friends did you have prior to going Turbo?" Tyler asked.

"None," Ralph said.

"That's not true!" Felix argued. "I was your friend!"

"Your entire job involved throwing me off of a building," Ralph said. "After that, you'd get medals, and pie, and all of the Nicelanders would congratulate you, and I'd go back to my dump, covered in mud, and watch you be the hero. The one time in the last ten ten years I tried to talk to you was on the thirtieth anniversary of the game and you spent most of the conversation trying to get me to go away and not ruin your party, which, for the record, I'm sorry about, and then when I asked if I could stay, you spent the rest of the conversation telling the Nicelanders not to be afraid of me!"

Felix opened his mouth to speak but found he had nothing to say.

"Nothing?" Tyler asked. "Done? Excellent. Ralph, what happened to the cart?"

"King Candy said that if Vanellope won and the gamers saw her glitching the game would be shut down, but she's a glitch, so she can't leave," Ralph said.

"So you smashed the cart to protect her," Tyler summarized. "Except, that I'm sure she didn't understand why you were doing it so she's probably mad at you and devastated that her friend would betray her, Sazh is likely with her trying to cheer her up, and since you're trying to get the cart fixed, I'm sure you have figured out that she's actually not a glitch."

"Wait, you already knew?" Ralph asked.

"We just found out a little while ago," Lightning said. "Know a way to fix it?"

"If she finishes a race, win or lose, the game will reset and everyone's trapped memories of who she is will be freed, plus she won't be a glitch anymore," Ralph said. "King Candy, on the other hand, isn't a real racer, and everyone will remember who he is too."

"He's Turbo," Lightning said. "No one's seen him because he was hiding, waiting for another racing game. Once he found this one, he found the code, set up a door only he knew how to open, then tried to erase Vanellope's code to replace her as King Candy."

"That...actually makes sense," Felix said. "Oh my god! We have to help her win!"

"Fix the cart and Ralph will handle it," Tyler said. "Speaking of Ralph handling things, Ralph, you had a cy-bug with you when you got here. Did you kill it?"

"Well, it sank into a candy lake, so yeah," Ralph said. "It's dead."

"No it's not," Tyler said.

"Oh my god!" Felix said. "Sergeant Calhoun is still out there looking for it!"

"We'll help her," Tyler said. "Felix, go with Ralph."

He nodded and smacked a piece of the cart with his hammer, the pieces all flashing and turning back into the cart. Just as he did, Sazh stepped through the hole he had made.

"Hey," Sazh said. "So...uh...Vanellope got arrested while I was making a bathroom break."

"How long ago?" Tyler asked.

"About twenty minutes," Sazh said.

"She'll be here, then," Tyler said, walking out the hole they had made into a long hallway.

On one end, there was an arrow with the word "FUNGEON" written inside of it. They all jogged around the corner, finding themselves at a locked door. Tyler summoned the keyblade, tapping the keyhole and the lock clicked open. Tyler pushed the door open and Vanellope smiled widely as she saw him, then glared at Ralph.

"I know, I know, I know, I'm an idiot," Ralph said.

"And?" Vanellope asked.

"And a real numbskull," Ralph said.

"And?" Vanellope repeated.

"A selfish diaper baby," Ralph sighed.

"And?" Vanellope urged.

"A stinkbrain?" Ralph said.

"The stinkiest brain ever," Vanellope said.

Tyler walked over to the massive steel ring around her waist with chains attached to the wall around the room. He tapped it with his keyblade and it clicked before popping open in the front and Vanellope cheered, leaping into the cart. Ralph and Felix jumped on, the cart taking off and smashing through the wall, dropping to a road way below, landing unharmed, miraculously. Tyler and the others walked to the edge and looked down.

"Yup," Tyler nodded. "I'm not going."

Lightning laughed, picking him up and leaping out of the hole, Sazh following.

* * *

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	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Swarm

Tyler stepped out from between the stands just as the blonde soldier from Hero's Duty, Sergeant Calhoun, punched Ralph, knocking him to the ground.

"Hope you're happy," she snarled. "This game is going down, and it's all because of you!"

"How many are there?" Tyler asked.

"Thousands," Calhoun said. "Good to see you three. You can help me cover this game's people while they evacuate."

Tyler swallowed hard. They couldn't fight thousands. They couldn't fight hundreds. Images of his world breaking apart began to fill his mind. But then, he looked at the scoreboard, seeing Vanellope's name in second place. She couldn't leave. Alice filled his head and he clenched his fists.

"Vanellope can't escape," Tyler said. "She'll be killed."

"And it's all this idiot's fault," Calhoun said.

"We need a beacon," Tyler said. "Is there any kind of portable beacon in your game?"

"No," Calhoun said. "Don't you think I'd have brought it instead of hunting the cy-bug?"

"Probably," Tyler sighed. "Can we make a beacon?"

"Do you have twenty pounds of uranium in your pockets?" Calhoun asked.

"I didn't mean an actual beacon," Tyler said. "I mean something _like_ a beacon."

Before she could answer, cy-bugs began to explode out of the ground, swarming into the sky as the candy people around them began to scream. The cy-bugs were different. They looked like they were made of candy."

"Did they...mutate?" Tyler asked.

"They become what they eat," Calhoun said.

Tyler nodded, summoning his keyblade. "Everyone run! Get to Game Central Station!"

There was no argument. Everyone stampeded toward the exit. Ralph glanced at the map just as several cy-bugs landed on the finish line's arch. Tyler blasted them all with a lightning spell as Sazh, Lightning, and Calhoun all opened fire, Sazh and Lightning both using magic along with their guns.

"Ralph, we'll need your strength," Tyler said.

"What can I do?" Ralph asked.

"Wreck it!" Tyler shouted just as a cy-bug landed in front of him.

Ralph smashed both fists onto its head instantly and it popped like a zit. Tyler grimaced before jumping, splitting one cy-bug's stomach open then spinning and slashing two as they flew past. As he landed, one landed in front of him and he slashed it across the face in an upward strike, throwing it backward.

"This isn't working!" Tyler said, the swarm growing as more and more flew out of the hole. "Everyone retreat to the bridge!"

Before they could run, Felix shouted about the screen and everyone looked, seeing King Candy and Vanellope playing tug of war with a candy metal rod, Vanellope's cart stuck on the nose of King Candy's and Vanellope starting to glitch a little. Where the static over her when she glitched was blue, when it spread to King Candy, it was red, and for a brief instant, he looked like he was supposed to. White jumpsuit, white hands and face, white helmet, yellow eyes and teeth. Finally, he glitched enough that his disguise fell away completely and he looked down at himself before glaring at Vanellope. Then, he dropped back down, revving his car's engine and flipping her onto the side, Vanellope stuck in the driver's seat as it headed for a stone pillar in the road. Then, just before she hit, she glitched, teleporting out of the way, making Turbo swerve to avoid it, Vanellope pulling ahead again. Tyler grinned just before a spiked leg tore his side open. He shouted in pain, spinning and slashing the cy-bug before Lightning healed her, several cy-bugs flying at her.

Tyler's hand snapped out and a black sphere appeared behind them, dragging them all in and crushing them into tiny balls that dropped to the ground before exploding like goo hand grenades. Lightning smiled and nodded and Tyler looked up at the swarm. The entire swarm had started spiraling and was preparing to fly down at them. Tyler glanced back at the screen to see if Vanellope was okay, only to instead see Turbo drive into a cy-bug, being eaten hole.

"What happens if a cy-bug eats a person?" Tyler asked, blasting the swarm rapidly light lightning, fire, and ice spells.

"They don't," Calhoun said. "Why?"

"Turbo just got eaten," Tyler said.

"God help him," Calhoun said. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!"

"She's almost back!" Felix shouted.

"Bring it home kid!" Ralph shouted. "The finish line's wide open!"

Tyler glanced toward Vanellope just as more and more cy-bug geysers began to open along the track. Then, one opened under her, launching her into the lollipop trees nearby, smashing her cart into pieces.

"We're out of time!" Calhoun shouted.

"Go!" Tyler shouted.

Calhoun took off on a flying surfboard she had with her, Ralph and Felix running to Vanellope. Tyler looked to the cy-bugs, seeing hundreds scurrying along the track toward them. He grit his teeth, slashing his keyblade and sending fireballs shooting out of the blade, blasting the cy-bugs back. As he did, Lightning raised a hand, lightning beginning to rain down on the cy-bugs rapidly. Sazh, on the other hand, was sitting on the shoulder of a massive, red and black robot-looking thing with a huge pickaxe-shaped weapon with two barrels in the end that were rapid-firing fireballs into the swarm above them, Sazh doing the same with his pistols, the robot's free hand hurling much, much larger fireballs into the swarm.

"Felix, Ralph, now or never!" Tyler shouted.

However, just as he said this, a geyser opened below the finish line itself. Tyler swore and Lightning summoned Odin, collapsing against Tyler, who picked her up instantly, leaping onto Odin, who was in horse form, and Odin took off at a gallop, Sazh and his summon following as it scooped up Ralph and Felix, Vanellope teleporting onto Odin behind Tyler, clinging to his shirt. Tyler looked down at Lightning. She was pale and sweat was pouring down her face, but she was breathing.

"Lightning, you still with me?" Tyler asked.

"I just...overused...my magic," Lightning said, voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.

"Rest," Tyler said, taking her gunblade, which he was now glad he had asked to be taught to use. "I'll handle it from here."

Lightning sighed, drifting off almost instantly, Tyler keeping his free arm around her to hold her against himself as they rode. Finally, they reached the bridge, Odin stopping and allowing everyone to get off before transforming. Tyler gently lay Lightning down on Calhoun's hover board and summoned his keyblade, holding her gunblade in his left hand.

"Vanellope, can you get through?" Tyler asked.

Vanellope walked toward the gate but when she held her hand out, a wall of blue energy appeared, blocking her. He slashed it with his keyblade but it passed through harmlessly.

"It's alright, just go without me," Vanellope said.

"I can't do that," Ralph said. "There's got to be something we can do!"

"We can't do anything without a beacon," Calhoun said, holding a grenade. "We gotta blow up this exit. That should stop the cy-bugs from getting through before the game gets unplugged."

"A beacon?" Ralph said, looking toward the Diet Coke volcano. "Would a volcano work?"

"A volcano?" Calhoun asked. "Well...if it could erupt long enough, maybe. But that's assuming that the cy-bugs would be attracted to it at all."

"I'm assuming!" Ralph said, sprinting to Calhoun's hover board and passing Lightning to Tyler, stepping on and pushing off the ground, streaking away from the bridge they were on.

"Dammit," Tyler said, kneeling and setting Lightning down, leaning her upper body against himself. "Even when there's no heartless we're still fighting monsters to survive."

"I'll take cy-bugs over heartless any day," Sazh said, standing beside him, Odin on the other side and Sazh's summon, Brynhildr he thought it was named, on Sazh's other side.

Calhoun stepped up beside Odin and glanced at Tyler. "You know, if the point of my game wasn't an endless battle, I'd definitely hire you guys for real to help me win."

"With all of my friends present, we'd probably be able to," Tyler said. "Out of the six of us, we have four that can summon these things."

"You are all some very unique people," she said. "Is the horse yours?"

"No," Tyler said. "I can't summon. Odin is Lightning's."

Suddenly, cy-bugs began to land on the bridge, swarming toward them. Calhoun, Sazh, Brynhildr, Odin, and Tyler all opened fire, cy-bugs exploding rapidly, barely making any progress. But they _did_ make progress. Tyler struggled to aim Lightning's gunblade with one hand, but he was holding Lightning against himself with the other and was too tired to use magic. His arm began to ache from holding the weapon outstretched for an extended period of time while firing it, his shots growing more and more inaccurate, bounding off of the cy-bugs hard candy bodies more often than actually hitting them, granted leaving cracks or small gouges, but still. Finally, he let his arm drop, setting the gunblade down and summoning his keyblade, which he had never really understood exactly how light it was, then hurled it into the cy-bugs, killing a few before summoning it back and hurling it again. After about the fifth time, he set it down, shaking his arm for a moment and picked up Lightning's pistol, shooting twice before lowering it and giving his arm a minute to recover. He fired again, looking to the volcano as a single cy-bug, who he could swear had King Candy's upper body in place of a head, flew high into the sky with Ralph in its hands.

"Ralph!" Vanellope shouted, trying to break out of Felix's grip.

Just then, Calhoun's pistol ran dry. He glanced at her, not having realized that her rifle had run dry as well, but it was lying on the ground. He looked back at the cy-bugs, which were creeping forward inch by inch.

"Tyler, we're about to lose the Eidolons," Sazh said, referring to Odin and Brynhildr. "Time's almost up."

"How much more ammo do you have?" Tyler asked.

"In our world, ammo's not a thing," Sazh said. "The weapons generate their own bullets. You may have noticed you haven't reloaded Lightning's gun yet? So a lot."

"Can you hold them back?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe," Sazh said. "Probably not."

"Calhoun, take Lightning," Tyler said, Calhoun doing so instantly, Tyler switching Lightning's gunblade to its sword mode and holding it in his left hand as he summoned his keyblade. "Sazh, shoot me, and we're not friends anymore."

Then, he sprinted forward as Brynhildr and Odin both disappeared in a flash of light, their final spell sending waves of flame and lightning blasting along the bridge, thinning the cy-bugs out a bit. Tyler reached them and began to hack and slash rapidly, slaughtering them as Sazh shot any he missed, careful not to shoot him. Tyler felt a clawed leg tear his side open and forced his body to move faster. Another tore into his right thigh, and he pushed himself faster. He refused to let them through. He had failed his world, but he wouldn't fail this one. He wouldn't allow Vanellope to be hurt. He wouldn't allow Sazh, Calhoun, Felix, or any of the other people inhabiting this world to be hurt. And he would be damned if he let Lightning be hurt again. His muscles screamed in protest, and his body was growing suspiciously cool. Each time he moved, instead of feeling the heat the cy-bugs generated, he felt a cold chill. His wounds didn't hurt anymore, which probably wasn't good. And the ache in his muscles was fading. Still he fought. Anything within range was slashed. He heard, more than felt, his left thigh be slashed, judging by the ripping sound. He felt something step on his right foot, feeling pressure more than pain.

Then, it was suddenly over. He was lying on the ground, feeling like he was lying in ice, and the cy-bugs were flying away, heading for the volcano, where boiling-hot Diet Coke was spraying into the sky a hundred feet. Tyler sighed, eyes shifting to the sky directly overhead. It was black, but there were no stars. He sighed. He loved the stars. It would have been nice to see them.

He forced himself to look to the side, seeing Lightning lying on the ground in the distance. Someone's legs appeared in front of him as they knelt down. He looked up, seeing Sazh. Sazh couldn't heal, though. Only Lightning, Vanille, and Tyler could do that. It was alright. Lightning was safe. He looked back at Lightning as her eyes slowly slid open. She stared at him for several seconds before her eyes slowly widened as she realized what she was seeing. She leapt up, sprinting over to him and looking at his wounds. Panic was written all over her face. He didn't like that. He wanted to see her smile. Just one more time.

He lifted a hand, reaching up to her cheek, struggling to tug the corner of her mouth up into a smile, succeeding only in brushing her cheek, some of his blood smearing onto it from his hand. tears began to leak from her eyes as he lowered his hand, staring at the blood on his palm. He tried to reach back up but his hand fell, suddenly feeling like it was made of lead. Lightning held her hands a few inches apart, face screwing up in concentration and pain as a ball of blue light formed between her hands. He knew what she was doing. If she used that spell, she'd die.

He forced his hand to respond, lifting it before letting it drop onto hers, the spell fading, stopping her before she could heal him. Her eyes widened, but before she could try again, another ball of light hit him, spreading over his body seconds before his vision faded anyway.

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	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Comatose

Tyler groaned, opening his eyes and slowly pushing himself up, looking around. He found that he was in his room on the ship, and wearing a clean, unripped set of clothes. He pulled the covers back, turning and setting his feet on the ground, feeling his body protest as his stomach twisted into knots. Suddenly, the door opened and he looked over at it, seeing Vanille standing there.

"You're up," Vanille said. "Good."

"What happened?" Tyler asked.

"You lost a lot of blood," Vanille said. "We were afraid you'd be comatose, but I guess we were wrong."

"How long?" Tyler asked.

"A day, give or take," Vanille said.

"And the world we were in?" Tyler asked.

"The cy-bugs were all killed by the volcano," Vanille said. "Vanellope managed to save Ralph using her glitch and everyone escaped with their life. Once everyone was safe, Felix fixed the finish line so that Vanellope could get her memories back. Turns out she was the princess of Sugar Rush. She chose to remain as a racer, though. After that, everyone went back to their own games so that none of them would be unplugged. Felix and Sergeant Calhoun got married, and Felix turned the bricks in Ralph's dump into buildings, houses for both Ralph and for the homeless game characters that Felix and Ralph brought in as part of a bonus round they added."

Tyler nodded. Vanille had ignored one thing.

"Is Lightning okay?" Tyler asked.

Vanille remained silent for a moment, staring at the ground. Then, she shook her head slowly. "I was able to arrive in time to heal you, and when you stopped _her_ healing spell, you saved her. But she had used up so much magic...attempting the spell pushed her over the edge and..."

"She's comatose," Tyler finished, Vanille nodding. "In her room?"

"Yes," Vanille nodded again.

"What about Sarah and Alice?" Tyler asked. "Are there any leads on them?"

"Our mysterious pilot was able to use Sarah's residual energy from the necklace Lightning found in a tracking device, but it's still scanning," Vanille said. "There wasn't much energy, so the tracker's taking a while. As soon as we find a hit, we'll go there. It shouldn't be much longer. Maybe a day at most."

Tyler sighed, nodding and pushed himself up, his muscles protesting. Almost as soon as he regained his feet, he collapsed, Vanille catching him.

"Hey, easy," Vanille said. "You're not strong enough to walk yet."

"I want to see Lightning," Tyler said. "Please."

Vanille sighed and nodded. "Alright. But you gotta promise me you'll take it easy. You need rest still."

Tyler nodded and Vanille helped him out of the room then down the hallway to an open door where Fang was seated beside Lightning's bed, Lightning lying in it as though she were sleeping. Fang saw Vanille and Tyler coming and moved, Tyler sitting down heavily and groaning before staring at Lightning. She looked peaceful now, unlike the panic he had seen in her face before. He reached out, trailing the back of a finger over her cheek, Lightning not responding. He sat back int he chair, staring at her. This was his fault. He had vowed to protect her, and instead, he had let her fall into a coma. He stared at her, unmoving, paler than usual, likely from lack of magic energy, and deaf to the world. She could almost be dead.

A sharp pang shot through his chest at the thought and his chest constricted. He knew he was going to cry. He couldn't hold it back. Didn't even try. Vanille and Fang left, closing the door before he could start and Tyler almost instantly broke, holding Lightning's hand to hie forehead as he sobbed quietly. Fear coursed through him thicker than his blood. he couldn't lose her. She was all he had left. She was everything to him. He couldn't be losing her. He still owed her. She had saved him and he had done nothing but cause her trouble since. He owed her more than he could ever pay. She couldn't die.

Finally, the tears stopped falling and he sat there, holding her hand in his lap, gently stroking his fingers over the back of her hand. After a few minutes, the door opened and he turned to look, seeing Noel watching him. He gently set Lightning's hand back on the bed as Noel walked in, leaning against a dresser.

"You know...her sister Sarah...she's the reason I started this journey," Noel said. "Sarah and I were...friends, in our world. She had a fiancé then, Snow Villiers. He was one tough son of a bitch. I used to fight him to test my strength, and I'd always lose, even with my blades. Snow hated weapons. Only ever used his fists. Everyone always said he'd be more badass with a gun, or a sword, but the truth was he didn't need them. His Ice Magic was on a whole other level from the rest of us, and his strength was monstrous. Then, one day, the Heartless came, in force. Our world fought them, unified for the first time in our history. And for about a month, we held them back. But then, the Heartless just kept getting bigger, kept getting stronger.

"By the time our world fell, the giant ones like you fought in your world were the weak ones. Our group tried to run, but there were so many. We couldn't escape, until Snow stayed behind. He had always played the hero, and on that day, he exceeded the title. He picked up a gun for the first time, used it along with his strength and magic, and he obliterated anything that came after him. But our ship got damaged. Sarah fell out and was swarmed. Snow shielded her, but in doing so...he got hurt. Bad. Kept fighting, though. Fought right up until the end. Until the moment when when a Heartless bit his upper body off. Sarah...she just broke. Wouldn't run, wouldn't look at us, just sat there and cried. Me and Lightning, we tried desperately to get to her. We gave it everything we had. But we weren't Snow. Even together, we couldn't get to her. Our pilot showed up and destroyed the Heartless that were about to kill us, then forced us both back onto the ship and took off. The last thing we saw of Sarah was darkness swallowing her."

"Sounds like your world was a lot different than mine," Tyler said. "A bunch of basic heartless was enough for my world to collapse entirely."

"I know," Noel said. "Not all worlds can handle heartless."

"Was there a point to this speech?" Tyler asked.

"I'm in love with Sarah, in case you didn't guess," Noel said. "I lost her to the Heartless. Lightning may not be captured by Heartless, but she _is_ lost, at least for now. I know how that feels, more or less, so I'm going to do everything I can to help you bring her back."

Tyler watched him for a moment before nodding. "Thank you."

Noel nodded as well before turning, leaving the room again. Tyler turned back to Lightning. How was he supposed to bring her back? Nothing could cure a coma except for time, right? And even then sometimes nothing. He sighed, resting his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. He almost wished it was all just a dream, and he was going to wake up back in his world. Except, that then he never would have met Lightning, so he'd prefer to stay asleep, just change it to where she was awake.

"Tyler," a voice said over the loudspeaker suddenly. "Come to the bridge. We've found a few possibilities."

Tyler sighed, standing and placing a feather-light kiss on Lightning's forehead. "I'll come back soon. Please, don't leave me."

Then, he turned, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

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	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Ballad of Violence

Tyler walked down the hallway, stopping beside a hologram showing a map of all of the worlds they could currently reach. "Does anyone have any ideas how to save her?"

"Well, there might be one place," Vanille said. "There used to be an item in our world that could cure anything. It was called a panacea."

"But I thought your world was destroyed," Tyler said.

"It was," Fang said.

"But there might be another place to get it," Vanille said. "There's...someone else who survived our world. They might...know how to make a panacea."

"You don't sound so sure," Tyler said.

"They're not our friend," Fang said. "Actually, he and Lightning...well, they were trying to kill each other for pretty much the entire time they knew each other. And he actually succeeded in killing her once. Granted, she came back to life, but that was a long story."

"It sounds it," Tyler nodded. "Okay. Where is he?"

"He's at a world called Agrabah," Noel said. "And since it's probably going to come to a fight, I'm going. I have a score to settle with him."

"I'm coming too," Fang said. "I'm not sitting around while Lightning is in a coma."

"I'll stay here," Vanille said. "I wouldn't be much help against him, and someone that can heal should stay to look after Lightning."

"I'll stay too," Sazh said. "I'm not good enough to beat him either. If it comes to a fight, whoop his ass for me, though. I owe him for fucking our world up."

"If we fight, I'll try," Tyler said. "I'm not as good at fighting as Lightning. And if he beat her..."

"It's alright," Fang said. "Me and Noel will be there."

Tyler nodded as the pilot cleared his throat. They all turned and he pointed out the window. They turned to look, seeing a ball of sand with a sultan's palace on one side and a lion's head-shaped stone statue on the other.

"Agrabah," Fang said.

"I take it we were already heading there?" Tyler asked.

"As soon as Lightning passed out," Vanille nodded.

"Send us to him," Fang said. "Tyler, let me do the talking."

Tyler nodded and light blinded him. A couple of moments later, they were standing in the desert in a ring of pillars standing in the middle of nowhere, about five hundred meters across. As soon as they appeared, a barrier appeared between each. At the center of the ring of pillars, darkness began to explode out of the sand in a tornado. Tyler and the others watched as a man wearing formfitting purple armor rose out of the sand, a massive, oddly designed sword beside him. The sword had a handle that looked like bone, and a blade that looked like a broken scale, and standing at his shoulder.

"Caius," Noel said. "You're still using darkness?"

"I am darkness, Noel," Caius grinned. "Not that it matters, but why have you come here?"

"We need a panacea," Fang said. "Lightning is...she needs help."

"Is she?" Caius asked. "I see. Then she can give my regards to Etro. And all of you will be there to greet her."

He lifted his sword off the ground, Tyler legitimately impressed that he could lift it at all, judging by how heavy it looked.

"We didn't come to fight," Tyler said.

"No, you came to die," Caius said, slashing.

An arc of dark purple magic energy flew away from him at Tyler, who dove out of the way, the others doing the same. Tyler stood, summoning his keyblade. Caius stared at it before grinning slowly.

"How interesting," Caius said. "Come, keyblade wielder. Let's see how skilled you are with that blade."

Tyler looked to Fang who sighed.

"No choice now," Fang said. "We'll have to fight."

"We don't have time," Tyler said. "We need a panacea."

"Tell you what," Caius said, both looking back to him. "If the three of you can best me, I'll tell you where to find my last panacea as a reward."

Tyler watched him a moment before nodding and charging. Caius grinned, slashing his sword upward, the blade tearing through the ground. A massive fissure shot outward from Caius, purple magic glowing from the end of it. Tyler leapt aside from the strike and continued to charge. He slashed at Caius, who blocked the blade easily and backhanded Tyler, launching him away. Tyler crashed down hard, his keyblade spinning away. Caius shot after him but Fang stepped into the way, smashing Caius's sword aside and spinning, a glowing sphere of black and grey magic energy appearing around her fist before she backhanded Caius, launching him away. As soon as he landed, he cartwheeled aside from a fire spell, ending beside his sword and flipping it up with his foot, catching the handle and blocking Noel's larger blade. Noel spun, stabbing at Caius, who caught his wrist then spun, hurling him away.

Tyler leapt into the air as he reached Caius, summoning his keyblade back to his hands and slashing downward at Caius, forcing him to leap away from his sword. Caius smirked, taking a battle stance barehanded. Tyler stepped forward to slash at him and Caius stepped forward as well, slamming a palm strike into Tyler's chest. Tyler flew backward again and Fang sprinted forward. She swiped at him and he caught her staff, flipping her and hurling her away before turning and hurling her spear at Noel, who deflected it and charged at Caius. Caius held an arm out, purple magic forming in his hand. Before he could strike, Tyler slammed a fist down on Caius's forearm, making the spell fly off to the side. Then, Tyler spun, slamming his fist into the side of Caius's head. Caius staggered away, then spun, catching Tyler's kick and flipping him. Tyler threw himself into the flip, landing on his feet before lunging, tackling Caius to the ground and punching at him. Caius leaned out of the way, then yanked his feet out from under Tyler, planting both in his chest and hurling him into Fang. Both crashed to the ground and Tyler rolled to his feet, charging and ducking out of the way of Caius's punch, then slamming one of his own into Caius's gut. Caius staggered backward and Noel slammed a kick into the back of his head. Caius dropped to the ground, then flipped onto his hands, avoiding a downward stab from Noel, before spinning on his hands, kicking Noel in the jaw, throwing him away.

Tyler caught the kick thrown at him and turned, hurling Caius. Caius flipped onto his feet, ducking under Tyler's punch, only for Tyler's knee to crash into his face, making him stagger backward. As Tyler stepped forward again, Caius's sword appeared in his hands in a flare of purple and black flames, Tyler summoning his keyblade just in time to block a slash and be thrown away.

"You're skilled," Caius said. "I can tell Lightning trained you. But you're not good enough to defeat me. Even with these two helping you."

"I think we might be," Tyler said. "I'm starting to figure out your fighting style."

"Then allow me to show you another," Caius said, a massive sphere of purple and black flames erupting around him, growing into a massive sphere. Then, it cleared, leaving a massive black dragon hovering over them, long claws for fingers and toes, and glowing red eyes staring at them.

"Chaos Bahamut!" Noel shouted. "We're fucked!"

Tyler launched several types of spells at Caius, but they all exploded against him harmlessly. Then, Caius slashed at them, Fang and Noel leaping over the strike while Tyler was thrown upon impact with Caius's palm. He crashed down hard, gasping for breath and slowly beginning to stand, staring up at the massive dragon. It roared, a sphere of blue flames forming in its right hand. It hurled the fireball at Tyler and he scrambled to his feet, sprinting around the dragon, avoiding several fireballs before Lightning and Noel began to blast Caius rapidly with spells. The dragon turned toward them, roaring angrily, and Tyler summoned his keyblade, aiming it at the dragon's back and sending a bolt of lightning flying out of the tip of it, blasting into the dragon's back. It roared, a pair of fireballs it had been holding both exploding. The dragon turned toward him just as Fang leapt onto its head, driving her staff into one of its eyes.

Tyler hurled his keyblade, the blade stabbing into the other eye as Fang leapt off of the dragon. Tyler summoned his keyblade back to himself as the dragon exploded into a cloud of darkness, Caius slowly floating to the ground, glaring at him, sword in hand.

"Not bad," Caius said. "You're an effective team."

Noel reached Caius, slashing at him, and Caius blocked the sword, catching the arm with the gladius and driving Noel's shorter blade into Noel's abdomen.

"Noel!" Fang shouted.

Caius threw Noel away and turned back to Tyler. "Yet another friend you failed to save. I guess Lightning's just going to have to die without knowing how pathetic her student was."

Rage flooded Tyler and he clenched his fist around his keyblade. Then, he charged, slashing at Caius from the side, Caius blocking it, only for Tyler's fist to drill into his jaw. He staggered backward, and Tyler slashed at him again, from the opposite side. Caius again blocked it, flipping instantly, but as he landed, Tyler spun, kicking backward and slamming the kick into Caius's gut, throwing him backward. Caius snarled in rage, sprinting forward only for Tyler to duck under his slash, splitting him up the front this time. Caius staggered backward, then slashed at Tyler, Tyler blocking it.

"You're slowing down, Caius," Tyler growled. "Getting tired?"

He shoved the sword away, stabbing at Caius, who sidestepped it before Tyler spun, slashing at him again. Caius jumped backward and Fang slammed her staff into him, making him stagger forward just before Tyler formed a ball of fire around his fist as Fang had done whatever spell she used, then slammed the back of his fist into Caius's head, blasting him away. Caius flipped, landing on his feet, and glared at them.

"Impressive," Caius said. "But I'm not giving up yet."

"Good," Tyler growled, twirling his keyblade. "I'm not done playing with you yet."

Caius charged, all of his wounds sealing, and slashed at Tyler rapidly. Tyler blocking the strikes rapidly, neither moving. Then, finally, Tyler deflected the sword upward and slashed back downward at Caius. At the last second, Noel's blade blocked Tyler's, Tyler staring at him.

"We need the panacea," Noel said, a hand held to his stomach.

Tyler nodded, pulling his keyblade back and healing Noel, then turning to Caius. "Where is it?"

"It's with a man named Leon in Hollow Bastian," Caius said. "He'll give it to you if you drop my name."

"Good to know," Tyler said, lowering his arm. "Thanks."

He turned, beginning to walk away, Noel and Fang walking along side him. However, after about ten steps, Tyler heard the telltale hiss of someone taking a step in sand, coming from behind him. He spun, shoving Noel out of the way of Caius's much longer sword, then dropped into a crouch, Caius's sword passing over him, barely missing both him and Noel. Then, Tyler stood as he stepped forward, slashing upward and splitting Caius's stomach and chest open. Caius staggered backward, falling onto his knees and stared down at his wound, where darkness was flooding out.

"I'm sorry, Caius," Tyler said. "I actually didn't want to kill you. But no one hurts my friends. I thank you for telling us where to find the panacea. And I hope you find peace in the afterlife."

Caius fell backward, collapsing as the darkness slowly faded. Then, light blinded Tyler and the others as their pilot retrieved them.

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	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Panacea

Tyler walked quickly down the street. They were in a world called Hollow Bastion, in a town with castle-style stone walls, colorful roofs, and numerous people that Tyler would otherwise be recognizing as characters from the same cartoon as King Mickey was in back in Tyler's own world. The most familiar were Donald Duck's uncle Scrooge McDuck, and Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck.

Tyler turned a corner only to stop as he watched several heartless trying to attack a pair of men, failing miserably. One was wielding a sword with a gun hilt and a sword blade, and the other was wielding a massive blocky sword with a tanto point, the entire blade wrapped loosely in bandages, for some reason. The two were easily and rapidly slaughtering the heartless, none of the heartless even coming close. Finally, the heartless took notice of Tyler, Fang, and Noel, several soldiers leaping at them. Noel and Fang blasted their opponents with fire spells and Tyler summoned his keyblade, slashing his and then watching as the last handful were mopped up by the other two men. Both turned to stare at Tyler and his keyblade. Tyler glanced down at it and let it disappear, walking toward them with the others, noticing their tense postures.

"Who are you?" the one with the sword that had a gun hilt asked. "How do you have a keyblade?"

"I'm Tyler," Tyler said. "My world was attacked and destroyed by the Heartless. A friend of mine came to help and while they were, I suddenly had my keyblade. Now, we're looking for my niece and my friend's sister, who were taken by the Heartless but escaped. However, we're not here for that."

"Why are you here then?" the other asked. "I can tell you're not here for small talk, or to help us with the Heartless. And I doubt your friend is Sora, so why are you here?"

"Sora?" Tyler asked.

"Another keyblade wielder, a friend of ours," the first said. "I'm Leon, this is Cloud. Why are you here?"

"My friend, the one who saved my life, she's in a coma," Tyler said. "We need a panacea to save her. We were told you had it."

"Yes, I have it," Leon nodded. "But I can't give it to you. A friend of ours was found recently. He's sick and only the panacea can save him."

"Is there any way to get more?" Fang asked.

"No," Cloud said. "It's the last one in existence."

Tyler stared at the ground in silence for a long while. "Maybe I could heal him."

"You can try," Cloud nodded. "But if it doesn't work, I'm using the panacea."

"Please," Noel said. "Lightning is dying!"

"Noel," Tyler said, Noel staring at him. "It's their panacea, and their friend is also dying. In the reverse positions, you wouldn't give it to us. Leon, would the panacea maybe be able to be split in half and combined with healing magic in order to save both?"

"It's never been done before," Leon said. "But I don't know if it's been tried either."

"We aren't risking it," Cloud said. "Come on. In order for you to try to heal _our_ friend, we'll have to get past the heartless."

"How many?" Tyler asked.

"A lot," Leon said. "They're building an army here. If you have the time, we could use your help soon."

"If we can help, we will," Tyler nodded. "But...first I need to save Lightning. She's...important to me."

Leon nodded and turned, motioning for them to follow as he and Cloud jogged down the road. Tyler and the others followed, ad soon they left the town, heading into a path away from it, the path nestled between two cliffs. As they ran, Heartless began to appear from spherical rifts made of darkness or from the shadows around them. The heartless charged at them, only to be rapidly cut down by one of the five experienced killers they were trying to catch. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, they reached the door to a castle. The walls were broken and in the process of being rebuilt.

"Come on," Leon said as Tyler and the others stopped to stare. "He's inside."

Tyler and the others followed as they headed into the castle, Leon and Cloud quickly jogging through a maze of corridors before finally reaching a door. Leon opened it, stepping through and letting everyone else enter before closing and locking it. Before them was a large bed with a man with long, spiky black hair, a scar on his left cheek, a suit of black armor, and there was a long sword with a curved gold cross guard leaning beside the bed.

"This is Zack," Cloud introduced them. "He's my best friend, and my teacher. He taught me to wield a sword."

"How long has he been like this?" Tyler asked, walking over to the bed and summoning his keyblade.

"We're not sure," Cloud said. "We found him this way. He was attacked by a man named Sephiroth. Long silver hair, excessively long katana-style sword, one wing. I've been hunting Sephiroth for a long time. Now I have another reason."

"I'm going to try to heal him," Tyler said, raising his keyblade.

Green light flashed off of it before two spheres of green light began to spiral around Zack, his body glowing. Finally, the light faded and Zack lay motionless. Cloud sighed as Leon pulled out a vial of glowing amber liquid.

"Guess not," Leon said. "I'm sorry Tyler. We need it."

"Please try splitting it in half," Fang said. "If it doesn't work, you can use the other half."

Leon looked to Cloud, who stared at him a long while before sighing. "Do it."

Leon nodded, tilting Zack's head back and pouring half of the liquid into his mouth. The moment he did, Zack's body began to glow faintly. Tyler raised his keyblade instantly, pushing as much healing magic as he could through it. A massive ball of green magic formed over it, a large red flower blossoming on top of it. Then, vines reached out of the bottom and wrapped around Zack, the light glowing from his body brightening before tinging green. Then, the flower, ball of light, and vines all faded into green light before the light around Zack slowly faded as well. Tyler stumbled backward and fell to one knee, sweat beading on his forehead and falling, soaking his shirt and hair.

"Looks like you wasted your-" Cloud stopped as Zack's eye twitched.

Then, slowly, Zack's eyes fluttered open and he slowly blinked before looking around, stopping on Cloud. He took in Cloud's black shirt and pants, the black cloth over his left arm and hanging from the left side of his belt, and then the sword on his back.

"What the hell have you done to my sword?" Zack croaked.

"This one's called the Fusion Blade," Cloud said. "Yours...Yours was lost when our world was destroyed."

Zack nodded slowly. "I figured. Who are you all?"

"I'm Leon," Leon said.

"I'm Tyler," Tyler said, pushing himself up. "This is Fang and Noel."

Zack nodded again. "Cloud, Sephiroth survived."

"I know," Cloud nodded. "I've already fought him several times. I'm trying to find him."

Zack nodded, yawning. "I'm tired. How long have I been out?"

"A really long time," Cloud said. "I have to go. There's someone else who will want to see you."

Zack's face contorted in confusion but Cloud simply smiled and left. Leon turned to Tyler, holding out the remaining liquid. Tyler accepted it, nodding.

"We'll try to be back in time for the fight," Tyler said.

Leon nodded and light blinded Tyler and his friends. A moment later, they were standing on the bridge of the ship again, and Tyler's legs buckled. Fang caught him, holding him up and taking the panacea from him.

"It's not full," the pilot noted.

"We have to combine it with a very powerful healing spell," Fang said. "It's all we could get."

"I just need to rest a bit," Tyler said, struggling back to his feet.

"No you don't," the pilot said. "You used up too much magic. You're about to go comatose yourself. Here."

He tossed a softball-sized glowing blue stone to Tyler, who caught it, staring at it. It was soft. It felt like it was he could crush it in his hand. Which is exactly what Fang told him to do with it. He squeezed, the stone cracking before finally shattering in his hand. Instantly, he felt strength flood into him, not a whole lot, but enough that he didn't feel like he might pass out at any moment.

"What was that?" Tyler asked.

"An Ether," Fang said. "If it barely kept you standing, you really _were_ about to be gone. Come on. You can rest now. We'll wake up Lightning once you're better."

Tyler nodded, walking alongside Fang until they reached the same room Lightning was in, Vanille sitting beside her, looking exhausted.

"You're back!" Vanille smiled. "Is everything okay?"

"We're fine," Fang smiled. "He needs to rest. We only got half a panacea, so it needs a really strong healing spell to go with it. He already did it once and it almost put him in a coma. If not for an Ether, it would have."

"I see," Vanille nodded. "Rest Tyler. You can heal her when you wake up."

Tyler nodded, lying in an empty bed beside Lightning's and passing out. A few hours later, he woke up, sitting up and stretching before looking around. Fang walked over from her chair, holding out another Ether. He crushed that one as well, feeling his strength return to their normal full levels and then walked over to Lightning, Fang handing him the panacea. Tyler carefully poured it into Lightning's mouth, then summoned his keyblade, raising it. He shoved his magic through the blade, the same flower as when he had healed Zack forming then fading, as it had before. After the spell ended, Tyler dropped, Fang barely catching him and shoving a larger Ether into his hand, Tyler having to use both to crush it. As the energy stopped flowing into him, he stared at Lightning. Nothing. He swallowed hard, staring at the ground. He had failed. His only chance to save her, and he had failed. Maybe he should have fought Leon and Cloud for the full panacea.

"Why the long face?" a blessedly familiar voice croaked.

Tyler's head snapped up, staring into Lightning's infinitely beautiful blue eyes. She pushed herself up, smiling slightly and Tyler stepped forward, throwing his arms around her and not minding that his legs nearly gave out. Lightning hugged him back, the two staying there for several moments before Tyler pulled back, stumbling and Fang catching him.

"Here," Fang said, handing him yet another Ether, which he crushed obediently, feeling his magic levels stabilize.

"Ether?" Lightning asked, brow creasing. "How much did he have to use?"

"Too much," Fang said. "He almost followed your example. Fortunately, we're all safe now. Both of you need to rest. Once you have, we can figure out what to do next."

Lightning nodded, glancing at Tyler, who flopped back onto the bed he had been on before, groaning.

"I don't like comas," Tyler groaned. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Lightning smiled.

Then, Tyler passed out again.

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	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Plague

Tyler walked onto the bridge, yawning and looking around. Lightning was standing beside the hologram map of all of the worlds with Fang and smiled over at him as he stepped ino the room before turning back to the map. Fang snuck him a wink and Tyler rolled his eyes, walking over to where Vanille was watching the darkness around them.

"So, any progress with Fang?" Tyler asked.

"No," Vanille sighed. "I don't have enough courage to say anything."

"You should," Tyler said. "But I'm not really one to give advice. I nearly lost Lightning and I'm still too much a coward to say anything."

"It's fine," Vanille smiled, before the smile grew. "We're here."

"Where?" Tyler asked, looking around.

In front of the ship was a world with a massive, pure white tower on one side, and a sea of black, thorny roots on the other.

"Where is this?" Tyler asked.

"One of the worlds where our pilot found traces of Serah's presence," Vanille said. "Are you feeling up to going?"

"Alice might be down there," Tyler said. "Nothing will stop me from going there."

Vanille nodded and they walked over to the others, Tyler not even bothering to ask Lightning if she was going. He knew her answer.

"Noel, you want in?" Tyler asked. "Just in case you get to play the hero?"

"Happily," Noel nodded.

"Alright," the pilot said. "I'll send you down now, then."

Tyler glanced at Vanille and winked and Vanille blushed just before light blinded Tyler and the others. When it cleared, they were standing in the center of town, a short distance away from the castle and with no one anywhere nearby.

"Where is everyone?" Noel asked.

"Hey you!" a voice shouted suddenly, everyone turning to look at a soldier on top of the castle walls. "Get inside before you catch the plague!"

They all sprinted for the castle instantly. Within minutes they were inside the entry hall, staring at dozens of people, all lying motionless on makeshift beds, all seemingly dead.

"Oh great, more comas," Tyler groaned.

"You're not from around here, are you?" a scrawny man asked.

"No," Tyler said. "What's happening here?"

"It's terrible," the man said, looking around, Tyler noticing that everyone in a coma was a young attractive female. "All of our young women have fallen into comas. More fall by the day. And then, a few days later, they die."

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Their bodies just shut down and they die," the man said. "My...my sister...she died three days ago. My fiancé is...she can't have more than a day or two left."

"Heartless?" Tyler asked, looking to Lightning and Noel.

"Never heard of them dong this," Lightning said, staring at one of the women. "They still have their hearts. Heartless don't waste food. They wouldn't let the women die without their hearts being taken first. I think this is something else."

"Go home," Tyler said. "Send Sazh down."

"No way," Lightning said. "I'm not afraid of this. I'm not running away from it. Besides, Serah might..."

"She's fine," Tyler said. "If she's here, I'll bring her back with me. If not, we'll look somewhere else. But if it's only women being affected, I need to know you're safe, so go home!"

"No!" Lightning said. "I'm not leaving and there's nothing you can do about it! Just accept it and help me find whatever's causing this so we can save these women."

Tyler sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Let's look around for Serah and ask around for leads."

Lightning nodded and Noel moved to the townspeople who were awake as Tyler and Lightning began to look around for Serah among the sleeping ones. Once they didn't find her, they began to talk to the rest of the townspeople as well, asking about leads for the plague, or if there had been a girl that looked like Lightning there before. They both found out that she had safely left the world without catching the plague, and that there were no leads. Finally, they met back up by the door, Noel walking over as well.

"Any luck?" Noel asked.

"None," Tyler said. "They were here but they left. And there's no evidence of any kind for what this might be."

"I see," Noel nodded. "I was afraid of that. Maybe it really is a plague."

"Maybe our pilot can scan the world for heartless," Tyler suggested.

"No luck," Lightning said. "I can't reach him from inside the castle. The walls are blocking the signal."

"We can teleport ourselves from one world to the next if we wanted to, but we can't get good enough signal to make a call?" Tyler scoffed. "That's some bullshit."

I'm going to try and find whoever owns this castle," Noel said. "Maybe they know something their citizens don't."

"I'm going to keep asking around here," Tyler said. "Maybe we missed something."

"I'm going to head outside to try and call the ship," Lightning said.

"Be careful, please," Tyler said.

"I'll be fine," Lightning smiled. "I'll be back before you can say hurry up."

"Hurry up," Tyler said.

Lightning rolled her eyes and turned, walking out of the castle, the door swinging closed behind her. Noel turned and walked the other way, heading toward a large door on the far side. Tyler turned, walking around and talking to people again. After about ten minutes, he looked around. Still no Lightning. He turned making his way to the door and slipping outside, looking around. Nothing.

"Lightning?" he called out.

Nothing.

"Lightning!" He walked away from the castle, following the wall up a hill.

After a ways, he stopped, looking around. He could hear something. Muttering. He turned to an alleyway, walking slowly toward it, readying himself for a fight. As he reached the mouth of the alleyway, he peeked into it, stopping as he saw a man in fancy but ripped clothes, with disheveled brown hair and a tattered cape kneeling on the ground, rocking slightly and muttering. Tyler was about to call out to him when he froze, staring at the legs peeking out from under the cape behind the man. He knew those combat boots. He had been hit in the head with them enough times that he would recognize them anywhere.

"Lightning!" Tyler shouted, summoning his keyblade and sprinting toward her.

The man sprang to his feet, spinning and drawing a sword, Tyler slashing at him only for the man to block it and leap away.

"What did you do to her!?" Tyler shouted, watching the darkness curling off of the man's body.

The man muttered something before turning and sprinting away. Tyler turned to Lightning and knelt, feeling for a pulse. It was weak, but she was alive. He picked her up, sprinting back to the door just as it opened and Noel peeked out, shouting in surprise and stepping out of the way. Tyler ran in, setting Lightning down, someone running over immediately and quickly doing a cursory examination of Lightning, checking for injuries, it seemed.

"She banged her head pretty good when she fell, probably she'll have a concussion," the man said. "But...if we can't stop this plague and find a way to reverse it, it won't matter."

"There was a man," Tyler said. "His clothes looked like he might have been a lord, or maybe a prince, but they were all ripped up."

"Prince Phillip," a man off to the side said, walking toward them.

Tyler only spared him a glance, but even that was enough to tell him that it was the king speaking.

"He was our beloved princess's true love," the king said. "My daughter was once under a horrible spell, and slept endlessly, unable to be awakened no matter what was tried. Then one day, Prince Phillip arrived. He fought the wicked witch Maleficent, who had cursed my daughter, then awakened my daughter with true love's kiss. However, not long after, my daughter was taken away, never to return. The loss changed Prince Phillip. He became obsessed with finding her, and then when he could not, he became angry. And then, one day, he simply left. He moved into Maleficent's castle and hasn't been seen since."

"He's putting your women to sleep," Tyler said. "Not some plague."

"I see," the king sighed. "Then he is trying to recreate my daughter."

"What?" Noel asked, brow furrowing.

"He is trying to find someone to love, and to love him, and to awaken them with a kiss," the king said. "Just as before. That way he'll know it's true love."

"Except that Maleficent hasn't put anyone under a curse since your daughter, so there's no one asleep," Tyler said.

"There's plenty now," Noel said. "Why hasn't he woken any up?"

"Maybe because we're guarding them all," Tyler said. "Maybe he can't. Judging by the way he looks, though, and by the darkness radiating from him, I'd say he can't."

"Wait, darkness?" Noel asked. "Oh shit! That actually makes sense!"

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"He's possessed by a heartless," Noel said. "That specific type is called, quite fittingly, a possessor heartless, because that's what they do. They possess people and make them turn on their allies and kill them. As they do, they leech off of the person who they've possessed's heart. They get stronger with one heart than a normal heartless would by stealing ten that way. That's also why these girls have their hearts. The heartless would make Prince Phillip lose his mind and become obsessive in order to make him fall to the darkness faster. The prince isn't trying to save a girl from sleeping, he's putting them to sleep either as a tribute to the princess, or because that's how he met her, and that's what he associates her with."

"Can he be saved?" Tyler asked. "And if we destroy the heartless, will Lightning wake up?"

"I don't know," Noel admitted. "It's worth a shot."

Jut then, a column of light appeared beside Tyler, Fang stepping out.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tyler asked.

"It's a possessor Heartless, right?" Fang asked. "Then I don't have to worry about catching some plague. I just need to not be caught alone by that asshole."

"Okay," Tyler nodded. "Let's go."

Noel and Fang nodded, the king giving them directions to Maleficent's castle, and they all left, moving as quickly as they could.

* * *

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	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Saved

Tyler stared up at the thorns. Seeing them from the ship really hadn't done them any justice. The roots the thorns covered were as wide in some places as Tyler was tall, and the thorns themselves were just as long. Tyler looked to Fang and Noel, both of whom were also staring.

"He had to pass through somewhere," Tyler said.

"Not necessarily," Fang said. "Possessor Heartless have a habit of giving their hosts abilities like flight, as well as control over darkness. I wouldn't be surprised if fighting him is almost as hard as fighting Caius."

Tyler nodded, summoning his keyblade and slashing a root. His keyblade, while not nearly long enough to do it normally, somehow magically cut all the way through the root. The potion he had cut off exploded into a cloud of darkness, fading, and Noel and Fang both drew their weapons, slashing the roots and also managing to destroy them similarly.

"Race you to the castle," Noel said, sprinting forward, slashing roots as he went.

Fang followed, also tearing through the roots, leaving Tyler a perfect path to follow. Tyler smirked, jogging after them, easily saving energy by letting them clear his path. Then, after roughly four minutes, they slashed their way through to the door to the castle, Tyler stepping past them to win the race and stopping, staring up at the castle. It was dark foreboding, and the dark storm clouds endlessly filling the sky above them were a perfect backdrop to fit the mood of impending battle.

"You two tire yourself out yet?" Tyler asked.

"Not yet," Fang said.

"Me neither," Noel said. "You?"

"You two did all the work," Tyler said, placing a hand to the door and pushing it open. "Let's go."

They all walked inside, looking around. There was no one in the entry hall, and the open doorway to the throne room revealed the same. To the left was a solid wall, and the right had a door to a stairwell. They stepped into the stairwell, looking up and down the stairway.

"Leave!" a voice shouted suddenly, seeming to come from everywhere. "Leave now! I'll kill you!"

Tyler looked up, clenching his fists. "He's at the top. Of course."

They all made their way up the stairs, taking their time so they didn't tire themselves up too much. Finally, after nearly an hour, they reached the top of the stairs, stopping at a wrought iron doorway, waves of purple magic energy flowing across it. Tyler stopped, staring at it.

"He sealed himself in?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe he's fighting the Possessor?" Noel guessed.

"Maybe," Tyler said. "Or maybe someone else is helping us and we just don't know it. I'm unlocking the door. Be ready."

He held the keyblade out, placing the tip against the door. The magic energy cleared in a wave spreading from the keyblade and Tyler pulled the door open, revealing more stairs, this time in a cramped, winding staircase barely shoulder width across.

"Great," Tyler sighed. "Of course there's more stairs."

They all began to walk, Tyler taking the lead and keeping his keyblade aimed up the stairs, ready to blast the prince or any other heartless that showed up. However, after a few minutes, they stepped out into a huge, open, circular room. The only thing blocking any of the floorspace was the hole they had just entered through. Tyler looked around, fists clenching again.

"Where is this bastard?" Tyler snarled.

"Calm down Tyler," Fang said. "If you don't you'll risk being taken over by darkness."

"So what?" Tyler asked. "If that's what it takes to save Lightning, I'm fine with it."

"Don't," Noel said. "Losing yourself to the darkness isn't okay. Even for a good reason. Caius had a good reason too, and when he lost control, his darkness made him kill Lightning. If not for Serah, she'd still be dead."

"What's your point?" Tyler asked. "Even if I fall into darkness I'll still control it."

"That's what Caius thought," Fang said.

"I'm not Caius!" Tyler snapped.

Just then, Prince Phillip landed in the center of the room, sword in hand, and darkness flooding off of him. Tyler turned to him, feeling his own anger and hate filling him. He summoned his keyblade, sprinting forward and slashing at Prince Phillip rapidly, Phillip blocking the slashes, the two moving around the room as they blocked, slashed, stabbed, and dodged. Finally, Tyler leapt back from a slash, gritting his teeth, his entire body beginning to burn with rage. Darkness began to drift off of his hands, and his keyblade began to be surrounded by a cloud of it.

"Tyler!" Fang shouted. "Control yourself!"

"Shut up!" Tyler shouted, swiping the keyblade.

Darkness exploded off of it, leaving a different one in its place. This one had a bat wig for a blade, no obvious teeth, and the guard was a mess of spikes. The charm was a spiky black ball that radiated darkness. Tyler shot forward, slashing at Prince Philip rapidly. The prince managed to block or dodge most of it, but after several seconds, the blunt of Noel's sword crashed into him, launching him away before Fang slammed the shaft of her staff into Tyler, hurling him backward. Tyler flipped, landing on his feet and snarling in rage.

"Stay out of my way!" Tyler shouted, darkness exploding off of him.

"Would Lightning want you to do this?" Fang demanded, Tyler freezing.

He stared at her, then down at his keyblade and hands. He grit his teeth, taking several long breaths, the darkness slowly fading. Finally, light enveloped Tyler's keyblade and it returned to its normal form. He sighed, turning to Prince Phillip, seeing the darkness starting to thicken around Phillip's heart, a pair of eyes appearing there. Tyler swung his keyblade up, a beam of light shooting out and hitting the darkness, the darkness leaving Phillip, who collapsed. Tyler instantly darted forward, the ball of darkness with a pair of glowing yellow eyes turning to flee, only for Tyler's heart to slice through it, the cloud dispersing instantly.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Noel said. "How'd you know that would get Tyler under control?"

"Because he's in love," Fang said. "Come on. We need to get back."

Tyler nodded and looked to the prince as he pushed himself up, groaning.

"What...what happened?" Phillip asked. "Where am I?"

"You're in Maleficent's castle," Tyler said. "Come with us. We'll show you exactly what happened."

They led Phillip back down the stairs, then through the thorns and back toward the other castle. As they walked toward it, Phillip looked around at the empty streets.

"I don't understand," Phillip said. "This place was so beautiful, so full of life. What happened?"

"You did," Tyler said, pushing the doors of the castle open, Phillip stopping and staring at all of the women lying comatose around the entry hall. "You were possessed by a heartless, a creature of darkness, and went around putting women into comas because you missed your true love." Tyler walked over, kneeling beside Lightning and gently brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "She originally came here looking for her sister."

I've been...doing this?" Phillip asked. "But...there are so few. Where is everyone else?"

"Dozens of women have already died," the king said, walking over. "These comas aren't like Aurora's. After a few days, the women you put to sleep just die."

"We were hoping that defeating the heartless controlling you would end the curse," Tyler said. "Apparently not."

"Well...maybe...no," Phillip said.

"What?" Tyler asked. "I can't save her myself, so if you have any ideas, we're open to suggestions."

"Alright," Phillip said. "Just...hear me out, okay? And try not to get mad."

"No promises," Tyler said.

"Well...with Aurora...she was only saved when...I...kissed her," Phillip said.

"That was true love's kiss," the king said. "That can't possibly work here."

"Well, like you said, this isn't the same as Aurora's," Phillip said. "Even though it's not true love, maybe...maybe it could still work."

"So, what, you're going to kiss every girl in here?" Fang asked.

"If it works?" Phillip shrugged. "Why not?"

"Try," Tyler said.

"What?" Fang gaped. "You're not serious!"

"Do you have a better idea to save her life!?" Tyler demanded, receiving no answer, Fang simply staring at the ground. "Then we might as well try the only idea we've got."

Phillip nodded, carefully leaning down and pressing his lips to Lightning's, kissing her for several seconds before sitting up. After several seconds, Phillip sighed.

"You're both idiots," Fang sighed. "Neither of you understands."

"What do you mean?" Phillip asked.

"Aurora didn't wake up because _she_ was _your_ true love when you kissed her," Fang said. "It was because _you_ were _hers_. It's not about what the person giving the kiss feels or thinks. It's about what the person receiving it feels. And she doesn't love you, so you can't save her."

"Who then?" Tyler asked, Fang staring at him, deadpan. "Fang-"

"For the love of God just take your balls out of your purse and kiss her Tyler!" Fang snapped. "Quit being such a fucking bitch about it!"

Tyler stared at Lightning for several seconds before sighing. "Fine."

He leaned down stopping a couple of inches away, swallowing hard. Fang rolled her eyes.

"Just do it!" Fang said. "What is it your first time kissing someone?"

Tyler remained silent, struggling to force himself to close the distance, neglecting to answer her question.

"You're kidding!" Fang gaped. "Never? You've never had a girlfriend?"

"I've had girlfriends," Tyler said, sitting up, losing his nerve. "We just never...fuck it. No. I've never had a _real_ girlfriend. Just wallet leeches."

"Can we focus?" Noel asked. "Tyler, kiss your girlfriend. Fang, stop talking, you're making him lose his nerve."

Tyler's face turned scarlet but he bent down, touching his lips to Lightning's for the barest of moments before pulling back.

"What the hell was that?" Fang asked. "We said kiss her, not gently head butt her."

"Well why don't you try it then?" Tyler asked. "If you're so great at kissing, why don't you do it?"

"She's not in love with me, is she?" Fang asked.

"How the fuck should I know?" Tyler asked. "I'm a guy! We don't know anything!"

"At least you know that much," Fang snorted. "Do it again. For real this time."

Tyler groaned, leaning back down and hesitating. Then, he leaned in, kissing Lightning again, this time holding it for several seconds before sitting up. This time, Lightning's eyelids fluttered for a moment before she made a tiny noise at the back of her throat. Finally, her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at him a moment before sitting up and looking around before staring at Tyler again.

"Did...you just kiss me?" Lightning asked.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said. "We couldn't think of any other ideas and Fang said-"

Lightning cut him off by grabbing him by the back of the head, yanking him forward into a kiss. After several seconds of surprise and not knowing what to do, Tyler felt instinct kick in and closed his eyes, kissing Lightning back. They continued to kiss for several long moments before Fang finally cleared her throat.

"Not that it isn't long past overdue for you two to make out, but we still need to figure out how to save the rest of them," Fang said.

"Try giving them an Ether," Lightning said, Tyler staring at her.

Fang blinked in surprise before walking over, lifting one of the women's hands and placing an Ether in it before crushing it. Light enveloped the woman for a moment before her eyes fluttered open, Tyler's face burning scarlet once again instantly.

"What, that's it!?" Noel gaped. "We could have woken you up with a fucking Ether!?"

"Shoot me," Tyler groaned.

Lightning smiled, kissing him on the cheek before moving to help Fang wake up everyone else. Tyler and Noel did the same, and after a few minutes, everyone was awake again.

"How did you even know that would work?" Noel asked as they met back up.

"Before I fell into a coma, if felt like my magic energy was being stolen," Lightning said.

"Wait," Tyler said. "When you were in a coma the first time, could we have used an Ether then?"

"We tried," Fang said. "It didn't work."

Tyler nodded as Lightning slipped her hand into his.

"Thank you for saving me, even if the method _was_ unnecessary," Lightning smiled.

Tyler nodded, blushing yet again, but smiled as well. After a few more minutes, they were all teleported back to the ship and Vanille met them both with a flying hug and extremely enthusiastic congratulations. Finally, after about five minutes, they managed to get away from Vanille, Fang stepping in to stop the five minutes of questions about how good a kisser Tyler was and if Lightning was okay from her second coma.

"That girl sure can talk," Tyler chuckled as he and Lightning walked away from the bridge, toward her bedroom.

"Yes she can," Lightning smiled, nodding. "I hope she and Fang get together soon."

"I'm sure they will," Tyler said as they reached her door.

"Well, this is me," Lightning said, turning to him. "Wake me up when we reach the next world, alright?"

"Sure," Tyler nodded. "Um...well, goodnight."

He turned to walk away, and she rolled her eyes, catching his arm and turning him back toward her, kissing him. He kissed her back happily, wrapping his arms around the small of her back, Lightning's wrapping around his neck. Finally, after several minutes, Lightning pulled back, resting her forehead against his.

"Goodnight," she smiled, giving him one last quick kiss before stepping backward through the door and closing it.

Tyler smiled, turning and heading to his own room, dropping on the bed and passing out instantly.

* * *

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	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

New Adventure

Tyler knocked on lightning's door, and after a moment, she opened it and smiled.

"Time?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "Our oh so talkative pilot says that the world we're heading to is pretty...what word did he use...extensive? He says we'll probably be there a few weeks."

Lightning nodded turning and walking back into her room. He glanced inside, seeing that everything was so clean it looked like no one had slept in it at all. She picked up her gunblade from the bedside table and returned to the door, both of them walking to the bridge, finding the others spread around the room, all staring out at a massive cloud of glowing gold darkness that was spiraling around them in a tunnel.

"That's not ominous at all," Lightning mused.

"I still don't see how darkness can be gold," Tyler said.

Lightning chuckled, nodding and walking over to the railing, leaning against it. Tyler leaned back beside her and glanced at Fang and Vanille just as Fang finally made a move. Tyler grinned widely, nudging Lightning, who looked over, watching as Vanille stood frozen for several seconds before squealing in delight, even as she kissed Fang back, earning a laugh from almost everyone in the room.

"It's about time," Tyler smirked, glancing at the pilot and seeing him staring at him. "Why's our pilot staring at me?"

"I don't know," Lightning said. "I stopped trying to figure him out on day two."

Tyler sighed, turning to the window and staring out at the darkness. "Sazh said that Serah's residual energy is stronger at this world than the last one, but that it's too spread out to know where it's coming from."

Lightning nodded. "We'll find them. You just need to have faith."

"I'm trying," Tyler said. "I just...If this is the wrong one, and we spend weeks here..."

"It'll be alright," Lightning said, resting her hand on his, Tyler turning his over and slipping his fingers between hers. "They've survived this long. They'll be fine."

Tyler nodded. "I still want to know who rescued them and dropped them off at that video game world."

"So do I," Lightning nodded. "I'm sure we'll find out eventually."

Tyler nodded, looking to the front of the ship again, seeing a group of planets with ships flying between them, ships that looked like a cross between two or three mast clipper ships and advanced technology, like thrusters on the backs of the ships. Tyler stared at it before looking to the pilot.

"Serah's residual magic is too strong and too widespread to locate her, but this strong of a reading can only mean that she's still here, and has been here for some time," the pilot said.

"Good," Tyler nodded. "Lightning, Noel, you're with me."

Both nodded and the pilot teleported them. A moment later, they were standing in the middle of a city made up of floating pathways and platforms with nothing but blue sky around them and what looked like a planet in the distance, flying boats and ships passing overhead, and people, mostly meaning aliens of all shapes and sizes but also with a few humans mixed in, rushing past them almost constantly, none taking any notice of the three humans who had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Where are we?" Tyler asked.

"I have...no idea," Lightning said, looking around, then up at the other end of the city, which was curved into a sort of "U" and slimmed out to a point on the far side. "This city...I think it's a crescent moon."

Tyler looked up, then around. "I think you're right."

Just then, a six-legged, alien spider person rammed into Tyler as he was scurrying past, sending Tyler staggering backward. Tyler's eyes widened, his arms pinwheeling, only for his foot to suddenly find open air.

"Shit!" he gasped, beginning to fall, only for Lightning and Noel to catch his hand, hauling him back up.

"Are you okay?" Lightning asked.

"Great," Tyler said. "Have I ever mentioned that I hate spiders?"

Lightning snorted, shaking her head, and pulled him up, all three looking around. "Well, on the bright side, I don't see any Heartless around."

Just then, a soldier heartless ran past, paying no mind to anyone around it, and instead shoving its way through the crowd. Tyler blinked, looking to the others, who gave him an equally confused look before they ran after it. As they followed it, they soon found themselves staring up at a sleek three-mast ship with the name "RLS Legacy" written on the side. The soldier heartless stopped at the top of the ramp, looking back at the three of them before running away. They followed, seeing it slipping below deck and chasing it. At the foot of the stairs was a storage area filled with barrels and a dingy off to the side. The heartless was missing, however.

"Find it," Tyler said.

Lightning and Noel both nodded, the three of them spreading out into the room, looking around for the heartless. Tyler soon reached a table and knelt, looking under it, seeing that it was clear.

"Who the hell are you?" a feminine voice asked.

Tyler looked back, seeing a feline alien in a blue uniform standing behind him. He stood, turning toward her and swallowing.

"Uh, you had a stowaway," Tyler said. "But...uh...he got away."

"Really?" the feline asked. "From where I'm standing, it looks like I got here just in time."

"Two more over hear, ma'am," a deep voice said as a man made of stone walked over wearing what looked like an old red British uniform and holding Lightning and Noel by the upper arm, both looking annoyed yet resigned to having been caught, apparently unable to escape his grip.

"Well well," the cat said. "Three of you? I'm actually impressed you made it on the ship."

"We were actually just leaving," Tyler said. "If that's alright with you, ma'am. We didn't mean any trouble."

"How civilized of you," the cat said. "Sure, you can leave. Mr. Arrow will escort you to the authorities."

"Is that really necessary?" Tyler asked.

"Move," she said, aiming a flintlock pistol at him that he highly doubted fired a lead ball.

He raised his hands, walking back to the bridge, Lightning and Noel following with Mr. Arrow just as a dog-human hybrid wearing a ridiculous suit that made him look like Santa Clause was trying to go deep-sea diving, and a human a little younger than Tyler and the others stepped onto the ship.

"Oh, hello," the dog said, looking to Mr. Arrow. "Are you the captain, then?"

"First mate," Tyler said, nodding toward the cat. "She's the captain."

"Oh, my apologies," the dog said. "Um, why exactly are you walking these three off of the ship at gunpoint?"

"They're stowaways," the captain said.

"I told you, we were trying to catch a different stowaway," Tyler said. "Then we were going to leave."

"Why catch him then?" the captain asked.

"Well...he's...not very nice," Tyler said.

"It's called a heartless," Lightning said. "It's a creature made of darkness that consumes people's hearts in order to grow stronger, turning them into heartless as well. But before we could catch it, it disappeared."

"Right," the captain snorted. "And why should I believe you?"

"We have literally no way to prove our innocence," Tyler said. "Especially since you've already made up your mind."

"He may have a point," the dog said.

"Who are you?" the captain asked.

"Dr. Doppler," the dog said. "I-"

"Yes yes, you rented passage on my ship," the captain said. "I know. We've been waiting for you."

"You three look like you're experienced fighters," Doppler said.

"You could say that, yeah," Tyler said.

"I'd like to hire the three of you as protection on our little...expedition," Doppler said. "In case our ship comes under attack by pirates or the like."

"Actually, we're in the middle of looking for someone," Tyler said. "Her sister." He gestured at Lightning.

"Well, I haven't seen anyone matching that description, but you can't very well look for anyone if you're locked in prison," Doppler said. "And who knows. Maybe we'll find your friend somewhere along the way."

Tyler looked to Lightning and Noel and they both shrugged.

"We don't exactly have any better ideas," Noel said.

"And he's right about prison," Lightning said.

"Well, if it's okay with the captain," Tyler said, looking back at her.

"Absolutely not," the captain said. "We still have no idea why they were on the ship to begin with."

"Well, at least this way, we'll know exactly why they're on the ship," Doppler said. "And you'll have plenty of time to find out why. And if we happen to meet these heartless things they were talking about, I'll bet they know how to deal with them."

"Yeah, kill them," Tyler said. "They generally look like monsters trying to imitate humans, but they can also imitate or possess objects."

"Good to know," the captain said. "Now get off of my ship."

"Captain, please," Doppler said. "If necessary, once we get where we're going, I'll pay you extra for allowing them to come with us."

"And why are you so desperate to bring them along?" the captain asked.

"I'm not sure," Doppler said. "I just have a feeling they'll come in handy."

"Fine," the captain sighed. "They can come. But I don't trust them."

Doppler nodded and the captain put her pistol away, Mr. Arrow releasing Lightning and Noel.

"Thanks," Tyler said. "We'll find a way to repay you."

"No need," Doppler said. "Just do your job well and we'll call it even."

Tyler nodded and he and the others walked away from the group as the captain began to talk to Doppler about the voyage they were about to go on. As they walked, Tyler's eyes roved around the ship, taking in the crew. Even as aliens, he could tell that almost all of them looked like thugs. A handful looked like they might be legitimate sailors, but almost all looked like they belonged on a pirate ship.

"Anyone else not feel safe on this ship?" Noel asked.

"Yeah," Tyler said. "I think this trip's probably going to be fairly...eventful. The crew doesn't seem to fit the captain, or Mr. Arrow. or the ship, really."

"Maybe not," Lightning said. "At least we're not neck-deep in heartless or cy-bugs right now."

"True," Tyler nodded.

He leaned back against the railing, watching as the crew finished making the ship ready to sail.

* * *

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	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Troubled Voyage

Tyler watched as the only other human on the ship, Jim Hawkins, was lifted into the air by the spider alien. It wasn't the one that had nearly gotten Tyler killed, this one was mostly black with red claws and and a red face, but Tyler already hated him. He had a nasty temper, the general bearing of a crook, and the one time he had spoken to Tyler, had told him he wasn't welcome and that he should keep his head down and mind his own business.

"Should we help?" Lightning asked.

"Nah," Tyler said, just as an overweight, cyborg, dog alien caught one of the spider's clawed hands with his mechanical arm, currently using a vice to squeeze the arm painfully.

"Mr. Scroop," the cyborg said. "You ever see what happens to a fresh purp...when you squeeze real _hard_?" He accentuated the last word by squeezing the spider's arm and twisting it into an uncomfortable position.

The spider dropped Jim and the cyborg released him, massaging his arm.

"What's all this, then?" Mr. Arrow asked, walking down the steps from the higher part of the deck, stopping beside them. "You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage." He leaned down close to the spider's face. "Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"

Scroop's face began to grow redder as he growled in annoyance and anger. However, as he did, Tyler glanced at the cyborg, seeing him glaring at him, his mechanical eye turning and opening, an orange light shining out of it.

"Transparently," Scroop growled.

Mr. Arrow turned, walking away, and Tyler turned back to the others. "I don't like that spider, and I'm not sure I trust the cyborg."

"Well, the cyborg's the cook, so you better hope he's trustworthy," Lightning said. "As for the spider, I'm just waiting for a reason to squash him."

"Yeah, I definitely foresee him turning on us," Noel said.

Tyler nodded. "Well, since there are currently no heartless or other enemies to fight, I think I'm going to go find someplace with a nice view."

The others agreed, following him to the front of the ship where Lightning sat on a barrel and Tyler leaned against it in front of her, Noel standing off to the side. As they stood there, watching the stars ahead of them, Lightning reached up and began to trail her fingers through Tyler's hair, Tyler drawing in a long breath before sighing contentedly, leaning his head back against her as she smiled and continued.

"I hope we find her," Noel said.

"So do I," Lightning said. "If we do, are you finally going to have the balls to kiss her?"

"Oh, like either of you can talk about not having the balls to kiss someone," Noel said.

"Sounds like a no," Tyler said, eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

"Oh shut up Tyler," Noel said. "At least I'm not stupid enough to believe that true love's kiss cures comas."

"Okay, one, fuck yourself," Tyler said. "Two, it worked. And three, fuck yourself."

Noel smirked, shaking his head and chuckling. After a moment, he sighed.

"And to answer your question, no, I'm not going to kiss her," Noel said. "She still loves Snow."

"Don't count yourself out just yet," Lightning said. "You might find yourself pleasantly surprised."

"I doubt it," Noel said.

"You're almost as pessimistic as I am," Tyler said.

Noel remained silent and after a while, they all headed down to the birthing, where a bunch of sheets were tied into hammocks for the crew to sleep. Of course, there were none left. Tyler sighed, sitting against the wall, Lightning sitting beside him and leaning on his shoulder. Then, they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next few days passed quickly. Their trip was spent training with their weapons, though keeping their magic hidden, watching a variety of creatures that lived in space, such as the space equivalent of a whale, pass by the ship, and watching as Mr. Silver, the cyborg, took Jim under his wing, trying to teach him everything he knew, only for Jim to already know some of it. The two _did_ seem to be bonding, however, even _with_ Mr. Silver giving him more work than Jim could handle. Then, several days into the trip, as Silver and Jim were returning from flying a skiff around the ship, the ship suddenly lurched to the side, throwing Tyler to the ground as they were heading up to the deck. He landed at the foot of the stairs, groaning and rolling onto his side before pushing himself up, sprinting up the stairs to where Lightning and Noel were staring at an explosion rapidly spreading toward them.

"Please tell me that's not a supernova," Tyler said.

"The star, Pelusa..." Doppler said. "It's gone supernova!"

"God dammit!" Tyler said. "Everybody grab onto something!"

They all grabbed onto the nearest solid thing they could as the pirate steering the ship turned it away from the explosion sharply.

"All hands, fasten your life lines!" Mr. Arrow shouted.

They all rushed to the central mast, tying themselves off quickly, the rest of the crew doing the same. As they did, the explosion began to grow closer and closer, chunks of molten rock beginning to punch holes in the sails.

"Mr. Arrow!" the captain shouted. "Secure those sails!"

Mr. Arrow quickly passed the order and Tyler turned to the explosion as more chunks of debris began to speed toward the ship. He swung his keyblade, a sphere of gravity magic appearing and pulling them in, crushing them into dust. Lightning and Noel began to help, all of them blasting any of the debris that was heading for the ship as quickly as they could. The ship began to turn, the explosion moving from behind them to their right side, debris continuing to fly past as a cannon on that side opened fire, helping them and allowing them to ease off with their spells, all of them already feeling tired from launching too many. Then, suddenly, a single massive meteor, more than ten times the size of their ship burst out of the flames, the cannon blasting it harmlessly.

"Oh shit!" Tyler swore. "It's too big!"

"Blast it!" Noel shouted, hurling a massive fireball.

Tyler and Lightning both sent a lightning bolt out and the spells connected with it, slowing it, however it readied another spell, but before he could launch it, the meteor suddenly slowed to a stop. Then, it began to back away.

"Oh no," Tyler breathed. "Black hole!"

The call was passed along the ship instantly and the captain swore loudly. The alien steering was thrown away and the captain lunged, catching the wheel and struggling to hold it in place. Suddenly, a wave of heat and light shot out of the black hole, slamming into the ship and hurling almost everyone.

"What the hell was that?" Tyler shouted. "The black hole is exploding?"

"Looks like it," Lightning said.

"All sails secured captain!" Mr. Arrow reported.

"Good man!" the captain shouted. "Now, release them immediately!"

Mr. Arrow stared at her for a moment before saluting. "Aye, captain. You heard her men! Unfurl those sails!"

"What!?" a female, Tyler thought, alien demanded.

"But just finished-" an alien's head, which apparently was a separate entity from the body, said.

"-tying them down!" the body shouted.

"Make up your blooming minds!" the female said.

"Mister Hawkins!" the captain shouted. "Make sure those life lines are secure!"

Jim sprinted toward the mast and Tyler followed, Lightning and Noel heading up to the wheel, helping the captain keep it straight. Tyler skidded to a stop beside Jim, yanking on the lines quickly, both doing all of them, double-checking each other's work.

"I verify for you, you verify for me," Tyler said, Jim nodding.

"All life lines secure captain!" Jim shouted.

"Very good!" the captain shouted, Adam running up the stairs and arriving just as the next wave hit, hurling him over the side of the ship.

"Tyler!" Lightning screamed, grabbing his life line and beginning to quickly pull him back, Noel steering as the captain, who had also been thrown, scrambled over to help Lightning.

"Captain!" Doppler shouted. "The last wave! Here it comes!"

"Shit!" the captain said. "Get him in here now! Hold onto your life lines gents, it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

She and Lightning rapidly reeled Tyler in, the next wave speeding toward them rapidly. Then, just as Lightning grabbed Tyler and yanked him over the railing, the next wave reached them, the sails all but shining as flames exploded out of the ship's thrusters and the ship blasting away from the black hole, speeding away from the wall of flames just behind them and finally getting to safety.

"That was too close," Tyler groaned. "I've decided I hate sailing."

Lightning laughed, wiping the tears from her face and hugging him, Tyler hugging her back.

"I thank you for defending the ship from the debris," the captain said. "Your abilities are...rather unique."

"We're from away," Tyler said. "Way away."

The captain nodded, standing and dusting herself off and walking down the steps, Tyler and the others following. "Well I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. Your cabin boy did a bang-up job with those life lines."

Silver chuckled, nudging Jim, who rubbed the back of his head.

"All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" the captain asked, looking around when she didn't get a reply but not seeing her first mate. "Mr. Arrow?"

Tyler looked around as well, also not seeing him. Suddenly, Scroop walked over, Mr. Arrow's hat in his hands.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Arrow has been lost," Scroop said, holding out the hat.

Tyler's eyes flashed to the life lines, finding one empty post.

"His life line was not secured," Scroop said, all eyes turning to Jim.

"No, I checked them all!" Jim said, shoving his way through the crew to the mast and stopping. "I-I did, I checked them all. They were secure. I swear."

"He's telling the truth," Tyler said. "I was there. I double checked everything. They were _all_ secure."

The captain stared down at the hat. "Mr. Arrow was a..." she cleared her throat. "...fine spacer. Finer than most of us could ever hope to be. But he knew the risks. As do we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."

Tyler walked away from the steps to the mast, resting a hand on Jim's shoulder for a moment before tilting his head to the side, eyes flicking to Scroop. If Mr. Arrow had gone overboard, where would Scroop have gotten the hat from? He held out his hands, imagining himself untying the rope in a hurry. He knew the rope hadn't been untied during the chaos. There wasn't enough time, plus he'd have been seen. But after, when everyone was gathering to speak with the captain, it could have been. He imagined what he'd do with the rope after, and looked around. There was a hole off to the side with a wooden grate-like covering. over one of the beams was a rope. He pulled it ups, finding both ends and staring at one that had obviously been crudely cut. Jim stared at it as well.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jim asked.

"It's just a broken rope," Tyler said, quickly wrapping it up and turning away. "Jim, you did your job. There was no way you could have saved him."

Jim stared at him as he walked away, heading to the captain's cabin and knocking on the door.

"What is it?" the captain asked.

"I have something you might want to see," Tyler said.

After a moment, the door opened and Tyler stepped inside, the captain closing the door before Tyler handed the normal end of the rope to the captain, dropping the rest.

"Tell me what's wrong with that rope," Tyler said.

"That depends on what the rope was being used for," the captain said, sliding her hand along the rope in increments, measuring its length.

As she reached the other end, she stopped, blinking.

"It's too short," she said. "It's too short to have been used for anything." She stared at the cut end before her eyes widened slowly. "Is this..."

"Mr. Arrow's life line," Tyler finished. "I believe it is, yes. I can't prove it, and I have no evidence or a way to find out who did it, but someone on this ship killed Mr. Arrow."

"It could have been you," the captain said, pointing her pistol at him again.

"That's a fair deduction," Tyler nodded. "After all, when we first met, I was on your ship without permission. However, I think you'll recall that during the end bit there, I was a bit too preoccupied to cut the rope. Lightning was trying to pull me back onto the ship, with your help, and Noel was flying."

She stared at him before lowering the pistol. "What do you suggest?"

"Don't trust anyone on this ship, except for myself, my friends, Jim, and Doppler," Tyler said. "The entire rest of the crew was hired by Doppler, right?"

"They were," she nodded.

"Then they can't be trusted," Tyler said. "One of them means to do you harm."

She nodded and sighed. "Great. If it's not exploding stars it's mutiny and murder. Who do you think it was?"

"Scroop," Tyler said. "But like I said, I can't prove anything."

She nodded. "Keep an eye on him for me. Let me know if you find out anything incriminating."

Tyler nodded then left, finding Lightning and Noel waiting. From there, they all headed to the front of the ship where they could keep an eye on everyone without being overheard easily, as they had been doing the entire rest of the voyage.

* * *

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	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Mutiny

Tyler watched as the planet slowly came into view, a massive green planet with a glowing green ring around it and then a debris ring around it at a different angle, making an "X" around it. He, Lightning, and Noel were near they captain's cabin at the moment, the captain being inside. The rest of the crew, minus Silver and Jim, were at the front of the ship.

Suddenly, Jim sprinted up the stairs from below deck and skidded around the railing, sprinting toward them, a look of fear and anger on his face.

"Let's go!" Jim said, sprinting past them and into the Captain's cabin as Silver staggered up the steps, a pair of what looked like scissors in his mechanical leg at a vulnerable spot.

Tyler instantly ducked inside with Lightning and Noel, Jim slamming the door closed and locking it.

"What's going on?" the captain asked.

"The whole crew are pirates, and Silver's the captain!" Jim said.

"Pirates, on my ship?" the captain spat, unlocking a wardrobe and throwing it open, grabbing a pistol. "I'll see them all hanged!" she tossed the pistol to Doppler. "Doctor, familiar with these?"

Doppler began to casually gesture the gun as he spoke. "Uh, well I've seen...uh...well I've read-"

The gun went off, a laser blasting a globe just to the side of the captain, who went rigid. Tyler snatched to pistol from him, holding it up.

"Weapon," Tyler said. "Deadly." He pointed at the end of the barrel. "Toward enemy, not friend." He pointed to the trigger. "Don't touch until you are about to shoot someone. Then squeeze." He shoved the pistol back into Doppler's hands and caught a pistol as the captain tossed him one, only to toss it back. "We've got it covered, thanks."

"Very well," the captain said, slipping the pistol into her coat before pulling out a flintlock rifle to go with it, then a small bronze sphere. "Mr. Hawkins, defend this with your life."

She tossed it to Jim, who reached out for it only for Silver's floating, shapeshifting, pink blob, Morph, to catch it in his mouth.

"Morph, give me that!" Jim said, snatching it back and tucking it into his pocket, taking a pistol from the captain.

Then, the captain swung the rifle around, blasting the floor several times, making a large hole before dropping through, the others all following, Tyler bringing up the rear. when he landed, it was in a sort of maintenance passage with a grated floor. They all sprinted along the passage, hearing the pirates running after them, only for Tyler to slash a pipe, steam exploding out of it behind him before freeing into a wall of ice three feet thick. He skidded around a corner, leaping down a short flight of stairs and landing in the room with the two skiffs, a trap door below it. The captain slammed the door shut behind Tyler and used the rifle to weld it closed before turning.

"To the longboat, quickly!" she said, everyone jumping in.

She jumped in last just as Morph grabbed the sphere and flew away. Jim leapt out of the boat after him, barely missing just as the pirates cut through the door, bursting into the room and opening fire. Instantly, the captain began to shoot back, Tyler, Noel, and Lightning helping with their spells and Lightning's gunblade. They managed to hit a couple of the pirates before Doppler shot a huge metal structure over the walkway most of the pirates were on, breaking it free and dropping it onto the walkway, collapsing it and dropping the rest of the pirates in the room out of the ship. Then, Silver walked in, throwing the lever to close the doors below the skiff, a blast door starting to slide closed below them.

"We need to go, now!" Tyler said.

"Doctor, when I say now, shoot out the forward cable, I'll take this one," the captain said, gesturing to one over them.

"We're going to fall," Tyler laughed humorlessly. "Terrific. This just keeps getting better and better!"

He hurled his keyblade in a blurred disk at Silver, who was calling Morph, at the same time as Jim was, confusing the tiny flying blob of pink snot. However, Silver dove out of the way of the keyblade and Tyler summoned it back to himself. Instantly, Morph dove into a coil of rope, Silver diving for it, only for Jim to reach it first, snatching the sphere out of it and sprinting away. Silver aimed at him with a pistol attached to his mechanical arm, but then sighed and lowered it. Jim leapt into the boat and the captain gave the signal, she and Doppler shooting out the ropes, dropping them. The front of the ship hit the blast door, Jim nearly missing the boat as it rocked to the side, only for Doppler to pull him into it. Then, the captain started the skiff up and they took off, all sighing in relief.

"Did we get it?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah," Jim said. "I got it."

Then, suddenly, a massive ball of plasma crashed into the back of the boat, exploding beside the captain who shouted in pain, clutching her sides as the boat began to fall again.

"Ah fuck!" Tyler shouted. "We're going down!"

He held his keyblade horizontally in front of himself, a massive barrier made of hexagonal pieces of magic energy forming around the boat before they crashed into a forest of mushrooms, Tyler gritting his teeth as she shield held, the boat crashing to the ground before he let it face. The bottom of the boat hit hard, plowing along the ground for a ways before finally skidding to a stop. He sighed, leaning against the side and groaning.

"That...could have...been worse," Tyler sighed. "Captain, you okay?"

"I'll be fine," the captain said, pushing herself up and groaning in pain, holding her sides. "Slight bruising, that's all. A cup of tea and I'll be right as rain."

"They're broken," Lightning said. "We need to find shelter, then you can rest."

"I'll be fine," the captain said. "Now, Mr. Hawkins, the map, if you please."

Jim pulled the map out, only for it to float into the air before turning into Morph. "Morph!?"

"Ah hell," Tyler groaned. "It's still on the ship. But, of course, they think we have it so...if someone could sneak aboard, they could retrieve it."

"Tyler," Lightning said, staring into the forest, Tyler looking around.

He saw a shadow flit between the mushrooms and narrowed his eyes. He could sense them. After so long not seeing any, he had been starting to get worried. However, now, he could sense them all around them.

"Heartless," Tyler growled. "We need to find shelter, now."

"Where do we go?" Doppler asked.

"There was a structure not far from us when we were going down," Noel said. "If we can make it there, it should be fairly defensible. Even from heartless."

Tyler nodded, Jim and Doppler lifting the captain. "Lead the way."

Noel nodded, drawing his swords as Tyler summoned his keyblade and Lightning drew her gunblade. Then, they all hurried through the forest. Before long, however, a robot burst out of some bushes, grabbing Jim in a hug, Jim staggering away. The machine began to babble on and on about being saved and about being stuck int he woods for a hundred years, introducing himself as B.E.N., short for Bio-Electric Navigation.

"Ben, we don't have time for this," Tyler said. "We need to get somewhere safe. There's a structure just up ahead, if you want to come with us, you can, but you have to be silent and fast."

"Up ahead?" Ben asked. "That's a coincidence, my house is that way too."

Tyler and Noel glanced at each other.

"Take us there, quickly," Tyler said.

Ben nodded, turning and quickly strolling into the forest, Tyler and the others following quickly. Finally, they reached a large structure covered in moss. It looked like a big metal hive, and the only entrance was a hole in the front, about ten feet up. Tyler sprinted up the wall, leaping to the hole and just barely catching it, pulling himself in before spinning around and helping Noel up, then Doppler, the captain, Jim, and finally Lightning. Once they were all up, they all collapsed around the main room, deciding to rest, Tyler staying near the door incase the heartless around the clearing they were in decided to do something besides watch.

* * *

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	22. Chapter 22

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Near Miss

Tyler ducked back into cover as a laser hit just to the right of him. He regretted not getting one of his own now. The pirates had gotten the hang of avoiding their spells and firing from cover. He held his keyblade up over his shoulder and sent a few fireball exploding on the ground where he hoped there were pirates. Just as he did, Noel stood, sending a more accurate barrage as Lightning sent a few lightning bolts while firing her gunblade. After a moment, they ducked back down, as lasers began to pepper the wall of the building.

"Give up while you're still breathing!" Silver shouted. "All you're doing is wasting your energy!"

"It's not happening!" Tyler shouted, standing and launching a fireball at Silver, then diving out of the way of several lasers.

"Then I'm afraid you leave me no choice!" Silver shouted.

Suddenly, the lasers stopped. Tyler stared at the door, then at Lightning. He carefully stood, looking out through the opening to see the pirates all staying behind cover. He narrowed his eyes, raising his keyblade slightly.

"What're they waiting for?" Tyler wondered aloud.

Suddenly, the back door that Jim had left through, a rotating sphere with a hole in it to allow entrance into the machinery and tunnels within the apparently metal planet, began to turn. He turned, Lightning and Noel spinning toward it as well, Doppler aiming his pistol at it.

"Please let that be Jim," Noel said.

Then, it stopped, the light from below shining up into the room for a moment in silence. Tyler took a step forward, only to stop, throwing himself backward as heartless erupted out of it like a volcano. There were soldiers, shadows, and a few other types that Tyler didn't have the time to recognize. Almost instantly, he, Lightning, and Noel were hacking and slashing at the flood of heartless, only to be swarmed in seconds.

"Lightning!" Tyler shouted, reaching out toward her, only to receive numerous gashes from the heartless' claws.

"Tyler!" Lightning shouted.

Tyler felt cold creeping into him, darkness beginning to cover him, only for a gun to go off and the darkness to evaporate instantly. Tyler felt himself get yanked into motion, then slammed back down, hard, claws pressing against the side of his neck, over his carotid artery. He looked around using his eyes, and saw Lightning lying in front of him, also covered in scratches and with a soldier heartless holding each limb, one heartless that looked like a medieval knight but with spikes for legs below his reverse-bent knees and with a sword that was extended straight out of the handle's finger guards so it ran the same direction as a forearm, was holding said weapon to Lightning's throat. Noel was currently pinned underneath a massively overweight heartless wearing purple clothes with a silver helmet, and was completely unable to move anything but his head. Tyler looked to Doppler and the captain, seeing them being restrained by pirates. To the other side, Silver was standing in the doorway, his still-smoking pistol extended from his mechanical arm.

"Useful, aren't they?" Silver asked.

"You're controlling the heartless!?" Tyler gaped. "But how?"

"Oh, now I wouldn't say controlling," Silver said. "It's more like a partnership. These strange lads said they wanted to go to Treasure Planet. And they offered me a deal. They'll work for me so long as I could get them to Captain Flint. After that, the treasure be mine."

"You're insane," Tyler said. "Do you have any idea what these things are? You can't trust them!"

"Oh don't you worry about that," Silver said. "They understand business."

"No, they understand killing!" Tyler said. "They're monsters!"

"Some say pirates be monsters too," Silver said. "Gag them. Jimbo will be back soon."

* * *

Tyler shook his head, the gag falling off his face. "Lightning, we need to get going, now."

"I know," Lightning said, also having worked the gag free. "There were hundreds of heartless when we were caught, now there are none."

"They're all watching, I'll bet," Tyler said. "And I'll bet money that wherever Flint is, the keyhole for this world is there too."

"And Serah," Lightning said.

"Then why are we still sitting here?" Noel asked, Silver twisting around at the front of the boat and glaring at him.

"Because Silver's going to take us with him when he inevitably finds the way to the treasure," Tyler said. "And in exchange, we're not going to kill him. Though, we can't speak for the heartless."

"The only one what should be afraid of the heartless is you three," Silver said. "They seem awful eager to eat you three."

"Yeah, we know," Tyler said. "We've been fighting them for a long time now. You should be worried about what happens if they get into that keyhole I mentioned though. A single one getting inside will corrupt this world, and I don't mean the planet. I mean the entire galaxy. Everything you know will be swallowed up by darkness, everyone that inhabits it being turned into heartless. How much will your treasure be worth then?"

Silver huffed, turning back to the front, so Tyler rolled his eyes, summoning his keyblade and cutting himself and Lightning free, then Noel. The pirates all aimed at them, but Tyler ignored them, leaning against the side of the boat behind Silver.

"You get us to the keyhole, and maybe our friend, and we'll let you have the treasure," Tyler said. "All we want is our friend, and to protect this world from the heartless you so foolishly made a deal with."

"Fine," Silver said as the ships slowed to a stop. "We go on foot from here!"

They all got out, leaving Doppler, the captain, and one pirate to watch them. Then, they followed the glowing green holographic line in the air over them, gold balls of light streaking along it rapidly, speeding up the closer they got until finally, the stepped out of the forest only to find an empty cliff.

"What is this?" Silver asked just as the map sealed itself. "Where's the treasure?"

"I-I don't know," Jim said, Tyler walking forward. "I can't get it open."

"Jim," Tyler said, dragging his foot through some moss and clearing it, revealing a depression that looked like the sphere. "Try this."

Jim pressed the sphere into it and the sphere lit up, a glowing spherical map of the galaxy appearing over it before glowing lines of color raced along the ground below the cliff to them before shooting into the air, reaching fifty feet over the cliff before stopping, spreading open into a triangle, showing space on the other side. Tyler tilted his head and tossed a handful of moss through it, watching the moss drift away on the far side, freezing as it did.

"It's a portal," Tyler said. "So then...we teleport to the treasure."

Jim nodded. "The treasure is...at the centroid of the mechanism. What if...this whole planet _is_ the mechanism, and the treasure is buried at the center of it."

What few pirates remained with them, a grand total of three, began to claw at the metal beneath them, one of them swinging a pickaxe, only to bend the pick.

"And just how in blazes do we get to it?" Silver demanded.

"We just...open the right door," Jim said, touching the hologram of Treasure Planet, the portal turning green before becoming an image of several tubes extending from a curved ceiling.

They all walked through, stopping inside and staring at the gold before them, formed into a sphere as big around as ten of Tyler and the others' gummi ships. Above them, the inside of the planet's metal shell rotated, the tubes extended from it being massive laser cannons that fired into tubes sticking out of the gold, the energy from the lasers undoubtedly being what was keeping the gold together.

"It's so...massive," Tyler breathed, staring down at the gold prisms mixed in with gold coins. "There's munny."

"There's more money here than you could ever spend," Silver grinned. "We're rich boys!"

"We're gonna need a bigger boat!" one of the pirates cheered as they ran onto the gold planet.

Tyler moved to step forward, only for the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He spun, seeing the heatless coming. A massive tidal wave of them.

"Shit!" Tyler swore, slashing his keyblade, lightning bolts beginning to almost continually blast down outside the portal, barely slowing the heartless.

Lightning grabbed Tyler, leaping backward, away from the portal just as the heartless flooded through it. The two of them skidded across the gold for a few feet before standing, turning and sprinting away from the heartless to the boat sitting on the gold in the distance. Jim was in it, and Ben was running away from it, the heartless paying him no mind, also not paying Tyler and the others any mind, instead all but hurling themselves down the tubes the lasers were going into, the lasers failing to keep the heartless out.

"We need to leave, now!" Tyler shouted as an explosion rocked the gold planet, a tube falling from above and crashing down into it just as the lasers began to sheer through it, melting the gold.

"Maybe the melted gold will keep the heartless out," Lightning said hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up," Tyler snorted as cold began to spread through him again. He looked down, seeing a chasm off to one side beginning to leak darkness like smoke. "Told you. This world's finished."

"But Serah might be here somewhere!" Lightning said.

Tyler grit his teeth, looking to the side only to stop, seeing something that wasn't old or a jewel. He walked over, picking the object up and staring at it. "She's not here anymore Lightning."

Lightning turned to him and he tossed her the pouch he had found, Lightning staring at it. "This is Serah's. She _was_ here!"

"And now she's gone," Tyler said.

"Like we need to be!" Noel said. "Jim?"

"Working on it!" Jim shouted, trying to rewire the ship.

Finally, the ship's thrusters came alive, firing up and allowing the ship to finally lift off as the last of the gold fell away, revealing a massive metal planet, which was opening and separating into pieces, darkness racing through the molten liquid in between the pieces and rapidly spreading over the pieces themselves.

"Yes!" Jim shouted as the ship began to move in earnest. "Morph we are so out of here!"

"Ah, Jimbo, aren't you the seventh wonder of the universe?" Silver said, dropping onto the ship, Tyler, Lightning, and Noel pointing their weapons at him, making him raise his hands.

"Get back!" Tyler snapped. "This entire universe is going to be completely swallowed up by the heartless, _because of you_! Take another step and I will _gladly_ stab you and leave you here to die!"

Just then darkness swarmed onto the ship, forming up around the skeleton of Captain Flint. Tyler's shoulders sagged.

"Of for the love of Christ!" Tyler said, swinging his keyblade around. "Give me a fucking break!"

He blasted it with a ball of wind, sending it spinning off of the ship as the darkness began to solidify, turning into black skin, a massive purple set of bat wings, and massive claws and fangs, the heartless almost double the size that the skeleton was.

"Fuck!" Tyler shouted.

Then, suddenly, a laser exploded into the side of the ship from below, hurling them. Tyler's head began to ring from the explosion, but he knew he heard someone scream. Then, he hit something and grabbed on, feeling it flail and writhe. He shook his head, seeing he was clinging to the heartless of Flint's back and instantly drove his keyblade into it to anchor himself, looking around as he did. Lightning was lying on a slanted piece of metal below him, unconscious but unharmed, Silver was standing over her, holding the ship away from the laser that was pulling it in, and Jim was hanging from a wall across a chasm from the platform Silver and Lightning were on. Tyler looked around. He couldn't see Noel.

"Noel!" Tyler shouted. "Noel!"

"Here!" Noel shouted back, Tyler looking toward the source of the sound and seeing Noel limping toward the portal, darkness following him, slowly gaining.

Noel's left arm was horribly burned, but he was alive. Tyler shouted for him to hurry, then ripped his keyblade out and drove it back in again, this time shoving it forward, the heartless diving. He yanked it to the side and back, the heartless turning and leveling out. He grinned, steering toward Lightning and Silver just as Silver let the ship go, the ship swinging into Tyler's path. Tyler jumped, the heartless crashing into the ship and Tyler flipped, landing on the platform and stopping, picking Lightning up as the ship exploded, the heartless shrieking as it fell into the molten metal below, its wings shredded from the explosion and unable to save itself.

"Let's go!" Tyler shouted, Silver and Jim both nodding and leaping to one of the metal plates with Tyler, who had Lightning over his shoulders.

They sprinted across the metal plate, leaping to the next, then the next, before reaching the stairs to the exit. Darkness surged up in front of them, but Tyler summoned his keyblade, the keyblade glowing with pure light, as it had when they were in Peter Pan's world, and he slashed, an arc of light shooting out and hitting the darkness, clearing it for them. They passed through, Tyler letting his keyblade disappear before they slowed to a stop beside the map, Noel lying on the ground, beside it, panting and resisting the urge to clutch at his wounded arm.

"Now what?" Tyler asked.

"Ahoy there Jimmy!" Ben shouted from above, the Legacy descending toward them.

Tyler grinned and Jim picked up Noel, all of them scrambling onto the ship before Jim and Tyler hauled Silver up after them. Then, the ship took off again, heading away from the portal. Tyler stared back at it, then at Ben, who reported they had two minutes before the planet exploded, though the explosion was the least of their worries. Suddenly, an explosion went off below them, a chunk of debris hitting the mast and shattering it, dropping it onto a thruster and making them all start to fail, leaving them at thirty percent, according to Ben's immediate report.

"Thirty percent?" Doppler asked. "But that means...we'll never clear the planet's explosion in time."

"Turn us around!" Tyler said. "Back to the portal."

Jim stared at him, then at a thruster lying on the deck of the ship before nodding. "He's right! Turn us around!"

He dropped down, ripping a chunk of wood shaped almost like a surfboard off of the railing and quickly began to attach it to the thruster. As he worked, Doppler began to turn the ship around.

"Can you do it?" Tyler asked. "Remember, once we're out of here, the explosion won't be the only thing. This entire galaxy is going to be consumed by darkness."

"I know," Jim said. "So I'm going to be selfish. Do you have a way to escape the darkness?"

"Yes," Tyler nodded.

"Then I'm getting my mom before we go," Jim said.

Tyler nodded as Silver welded the thruster to the metal board for Jim.

"Good luck," Tyler said. "You'll have one chance."

"I know," Jim nodded. "I've got this."

Then, he was off. He sped on ahead of the ship, massive chunks of the planet rising and crashing into one another rapidly as he shot past, dodging around and between them. Doppler followed with the ship as best he could, he and the captain yelling at each other the entire time about how well he was or wasn't flying. Then, Tyler saw Jim's thruster give out and Jim fall into a chasm. He held his breath, gripping the railing tightly, just as Lightning stepped up beside him, looking confused and afraid.

"Hang on," Tyler said. "We'll be out of here soon."

Lightning nodded, not bothering to ask what was going on for now. Then, they passed over the trench just as Jim shot out of it, flipping around and streaking past them, touching the same spaceport where Tyler and the others had arrived just before he and the ship slipped through the portal, the explosion following them through for the briefest of moments before being cut off as the portal was destroyed. Jim cheered, steering over and leaping onto the ship, letting the board spin away instantly.

"Jim, lead us to your home so we can get your mom and leave," Tyler said. "There's no time to celebrate."

"But we're halfway across the galaxy," Jim said.

Just then, they heard a clap of thunder and turned, seeing a massive cloud of blue and black darkness, dark lightning flashing through it rapidly, approaching from far off to the right, rapidly approaching the spaceport, screams reaching them even from where they were.

"Shit!" Jim swore. "There!"

He pointed to the planet and read off exact coordinates, Ben punching it into the computer on the back of the compass that was usually his chest.

"Can we make it?" Tyler asked.

"Barely," Ben said. "Full speed ahead!"

Doppler steered toward Jim's home and they all began to pray silently. As they flew, the darkness began to creep closer and closer. They weren't fast enough to outrun it, even at full speed. However, if they could just make it to Jim's home, they could all be picked up by Fang and the others. Finally, a large fancy house came into view, Doppler crashing the ship into the ground just beside it, everyone leaping off, Tyler with Noel over his shoulders. Within seconds, a brunette woman ran out of the house, throwing her arms around Jim just as thunder rumbled yet again, everyone turning seeing a wall of darkness rapidly speeding toward them.

"Everyone grab on!" Tyler shouted, everyone complying. "Fang now!"

Then, light blinded them before they crashed to the ground on the bridge of the gummi ship, the ship lurching into motion and speeding away from the world they had barely escaped as it began to mutate, rather than a group of planets, now becoming a sea of debris and darkness.

"What happened?" Jim's mother asked. "Where are we? What was that?"

"Darkness," Tyler said, pushing himself up and healing Noel, who groaned. "Your world's gone. I'm sorry."

"Our world?" Jim's mother asked. "So, are we going to the spaceport?"

"No, it's not just the world," Jim said. "It's then entire galaxy. We're going to a different one to start over. It's just us. We're the only survivors."

"It's just...so then...everyone else..." his mother trailed off.

"They're all gone, mom," Jim said. "They're all gone."

She sat back against the railing, staring blankly ahead and Tyler sighed, helping Lightning up before walking over to Fang and Vanille.

"Please tell me they weren't there," Tyler said.

"They weren't," Fang said. "Based on what we were able to see happen while we were watching you, we believe they were hidden inside that treasure room. Being near the keyhole made her residual energy spread over the entire world the way it was. However, about a day before you arrived, the energy suddenly started to weaken, and a new ht was located."

"Where?" Tyler asked.

"Hollow Bastian," Fang said. "But something's going on there. Darkness has been concentrating around Hollow Bastian."

"Okay," Tyler nodded. "We'll see if we can help them while we're there. But we need to drop them off somewhere."

"They can stay here until we find someplace safe," the pilot said. "For now, we're heading to Hollow Bastian."

Tyler nodded and looked around. They others didn't look to be getting ready to fight any time soon.

"How long will it take?" Tyler asked.

"Eight hours," the pilot said. "Go and rest. You'll need it."

Tyler nodded and he, Lightning, and Noel all complied, heading to their rooms and passing out almost instantly.

* * *

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	23. Chapter 23

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Found

Tyler looked around as soon as the light faded, finding himself standing inside a house with books cluttering all of the walls and randomly across the floor. In front of him, Leon was holding his gunblade to his throat. To Tyler's right, Lightning was being held in a choke hold now by a woman with waist-length black hair, a black vest that left a few inches of her midriff exposed before her black apron skirt, which reached to just above her knees, a pair of black shorts reaching out from under them, a long black cloth hung almost to the ground behind her, and she had on a pair of black gloves and shoes. To the left, Noel was holding his sword straight out in front of himself, the edge held to Cloud's throat, Cloud's own sword held to Noel's. Behind Tyler, Fang and Vanille were both standing with their hands raised and Fang wore an amused smile. A young girl, probably a couple years younger than them was standing behind them with a shuriken that had arms each about a food long with the center a grip, held so that the shuriken had a blade under each of their chins. The girl had a black cloth wrapped around her forehead like a headband and tied in the back, the ends falling behind her, an open black midriff vest over a black midriff shirt with grey flower designs on it, a pair of brown short shorts with a black cloth hanging only slightly longer than them on her right side, a black gauntlet-like sleeve on her left hand and forearm with her fingers extending out of it, a white armband around her right wrist, and black stockings reaching up over he knees, extending out of the top of tan converse boots that reached to just under her knees.

"Oh, it's you," Leon said, lowering his sword, the others doing the same.

"Nice to see you again too," Tyler said. "What's going on?"

"The heartless are finally making their move," Leon said. "They're on their way here. They'll be here within a couple hours."

"I guess we have good timing," Tyler said.

"Better than you think," Leon said.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

Leon motioned for them to follow and walked out of the house. Tyler looked to Lightning, who shrugged, and they all walked after him. After about four minutes, they found a building where a glowing barrier was coating the walls. Leon held out a hand, resting it against the barrier and it flashed, fading. Then, he pulled the door open and stepped out of the way. Tyler and Lightning stepped through and froze.

"Tyler!" Alice cried out, running forward, Tyler meeting her halfway, instantly scooping her up into a hug and spinning.

"Alice!" Tyler smiled. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"The pretty lady saved me," Alice said, pointing to the other person in the room, who Lightning was practically crushing to death in a hug, both sisters sobbing.

Serah really _did_ look a lot like Lightning. She had the same pink hair, hers in a ponytail on the left side of her head, a red choker, a white tube top with a pink and white skirt, the skirt having a section that extended up her front to just below her breasts, red straps reaching around her back from its sides, holding it in place, and a pair of straps reaching from the middle of the back over her shoulders then down into her tube top. The skirt was white on the sides and barely reached a third of the way down her thighs, then there was a short gap before her pink thigh-high stockings. She had a pair of lighter pink shoes, and a pair of grey gloves with pink cloth reaching out from under them. Floating in the air behind her was a creature with a pudgy white body, stumpy white arms and legs that looked more like spikes than limbs, a bulbous white head with puffed out cheeks and tiny, pointed, cat-like ears on the top, a thin purple staff that was about as tall as he was in his right had and about as big around as half of Tyler's pinky, and that had an ornate clock on the top of it with a glowing pink gemstone on the top of the clock, a larger matching one on the end of an apparently bendable antenna on the center of the top of the creature's head, a pair of purple bat-like wings about the same length as the creature's arms and legs, and a bulbous, clown-like red nose.

Serah

"I thought I had lost you," Lightning said after a long while, pulling back and wiping her eyes.

"I thought so too," Serah said. "Until Mog found me." She gestured at the floating white thing. "He turned himself into a bow-sword so I could fight the Heartless, then guided me out of the darkness. After a little while, I found Alice being chased by Heartless and saved her."

"So I see," Lightning smiled, just as Noel stepped into the room and stopped, eyes wide.

"Serah," he breathed, voice weak but filled with awe and joy.

"Noel!" Serah cheered, sprinting to him and flinging her arms around him, Noel managing to catch her, also beginning to cry.

Tyler walked over to Lightning and shifted Alice so that he could hug Lightning, who happily accepted.

"I...I thought...you were..." Noel struggled to speak.

"It's alright," Serah smiled. "I'm here. I'm fine. You found me."

Noel tried to speak but his voice failed and he lowered his head, struggling to get a grip. Serah smiled, lifting his head.

"I don't blame you for anything," Serah said. "You know that, right? You always blame yourself when bad things happen, but nothing that happened that day was your fault."

"I should have fought harder," Noel said.

"You couldn't have changed anything," Serah said. "You would have just died too."

"I could have saved Snow," Noel said. "He was wounded. He shouldn't have been allowed to keep fighting."

"Noel," Serah said, sadness and sympathy dripping from her voice as tears filled her eyes. "Please don't blame yourself. Snow made his choice. And because you survived, we can be together again now."

Noel nodded and hugged Serah again, Serah smiling and hugging him back before standing and pulling him up.

"Where's Sazh?" Serah asked.

"He stayed back on the ship," Fang said. "We could only transport five at one time, so he decided to stay back."

Serah nodded. "So, now what?"

"We're going to help defend Hollow Bastion from the Heartless," Tyler said. "You two should stay on the ship where it's safe."

"I'm not running away anymore," Serah said. "I can defend myself, now. Besides, I have all of you to look after me, right?"

"Are you sure?" Lightning asked.

Serah nodded and Lightning sighed. "Alright. But Alice needs to go to the ship."

"I agree," Tyler nodded. "Alice, there's going to be a really bright light, and you're going to be somewhere else. There's going to be a friend of mine there named Sazh. Can you tell him I asked him to look after you for me?"

Alice nodded, smiling.

"That's my brave little girl," Tyler smiled, rubbing his hand over her hair to mess it up before Sazh teleported her to the ship. "Okay. Serah, stick with Noel for the battle. That way we'll have even teams."

Serah nodded, holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same," Tyler smiled. "I'm Tyler. I've heard a lot about you."

Serah smiled and nodded. "Don't let my sister get hurt, alright?"

"Not on my life," Tyler nodded.

Serah beamed and hugged him, Tyler blinking in surprise. "For the record, I think she made a good choice."

Then, she walked out the door and Tyler blinked, looking to Lightning, who was blushing. He grinned, shaking his head and they followed her out of the house, finding Leon's group waiting.

"Alright," Tyler said. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Leon nodded and they turned, leaving the building behind, Leon leading them to a sort of fort, then through it and up a long staircase to the top of a wall. Once there, they stopped, understanding their job easy enough and spreading along the wall as lookouts. Leon left again, taking the rest of his group with him and Tyler leaned against the wall, sighing.

"Shouldn't be too long," Lightning said.

"True," Tyler nodded. "Still, a couple hours is a long time to just sit around. I kind of wish I had a chair."

Lightning hopped up, sitting on the edge of the wall and Tyler chuckled, sitting beside her.

"That works too," Tyler nodded.

Lightning leaned on his shoulder, smiling, and he wrapped his arms around her, sharing the smile. "We finally found them."

"I told you Serah escaped and rescued Alice," Tyler said.

Lightning smiled, nodding. "I guess you were right. I owe you a reward."

"Repay me when we get through this safely," Tyler said.

Lightning nodded and they settled in to wait, the others all doing the same.

* * *

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	24. Chapter 24

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Other

Tyler sighed, staring out across the cracked purple ground before them. There was a deep ravine running away from them with a massive, wide-open section, then a stretch of cave systems beyond that. And way off in the distance, dozens of miles or so, he could see a dark castle surrounded by darkness. The Heartless were supposed to be coming from there, but so far it was quiet.

"I don't like this," Tyler said. "It's too quiet."

"It's always like this before a battle," Lightning said, still leaning on his shoulder.

"I don't like it," Tyler said again. "It feels...foreboding. Like we're all expecting to lose someone."

"People die," Lightning said quietly. "That's a fact of life. There's just a higher chance during a battle."

"I'm not letting anything happen to you," Tyler said.

"I know," Lightning smiled. "And I won't let your luck pay us a visit this time."

Tyler smiled and looked to the side, seeing Noel standing with his arms wrapped around Vanille from behind, his chin on her shoulder, and Serah leaning back against him, smiling contentedly. "You think he actually told her?"

Lightning looked over and smiled as well. "No. But she'll probably make the first move anyway by the end of today."

"I hope so," Tyler said. "They look good together. And I know he'll never let her be hurt again."

"Agreed," Lightning nodded.

Tyler looked back to the front just as something roared far out before them. He and Lightning both stood, Tyler summoning his keyblade as Lightning drew her gunblade.

"Looks like it's time," Tyler said.

Lightning nodded just as a massive cloud of darkness began to form in front of them. Tyler took a step back just before a massive silver creature appeared in front of them, looking similar to a Darkside formed with blue tentacles wrapped around its neck like a scarf and four reaching backward from it on the sides, then with an inverted Heartless symbol that was only a slightly lighter shade of grey than the actual creature and was longer and skinnier on its face. The creature leaned forward, as though trying to look at Tyler up close, except its face was completely featureless except for the symbol. Tyler slashed the creature across the face and it recoiled, staggering to the side before turning back to the front, its entire body vibrating for a moment as a distorted roar rang out. Then, its arms rose into the air, stretching upward, before swinging downward. Tyler and the others barely had enough time to react before the creature's arms slammed into the wall, all but shattering it.

Tyler landed hard on the floor, which collapsed instantly. He grit his teeth, waiting to be crushed, but after several minutes, the collapse stopped and he pushed himself up, looking around. The creature was gone, but its strike had opened a massive path straight up to the castle Leon had told them to defend. Tyler looked around as the others all stood, all of them unharmed and with their weapons drawn.

"This might be a problem," Lightning said.

"Nothing gets past us," Tyler said, spinning his keyblade and taking a couple steps forward.

"Maybe we should take the fight to the Heartless," Fang suggested. "You know, kill them before they have the chance to make it this far."

"Good idea," Tyler said. "Unfortunately, I think we might have our hands full."

Darkness began to cover the walls of the cliff, as well as the debris, around them, Heartless dressed like medieval knights with spikes for legs and swords extending straight along their arms from a handle in their right hands stepping out of the darkness.

"Well well," Lightning smiled. "These ones know how to have some fun."

"Let's just hope they're not as good as we are at it," Tyler said. "Lightning, Fang, usual game?"

"Always," Fang grinned.

"We have a usual game?" Lightning asked.

"Highest kill count," Fang and Tyler both grinned.

Lightning laughed. "Sure. I'm game. Noel?"

"You know it," Noel grinned.

"I want to play!" Vanille pouted.

"Of course you can play," Fang grinned. "And I'll give you a special reward if you beat me."

"No talking about sex around me please," Serah said. "Double for you two." She glanced at Tyler and Lightning, who both turned scarlet. "Oh, and I'm playing too."

"Out of curiosity, what are the Heartless waiting for?" Noel asked.

"For me to give the order," a voice said as black and green flames sprung up from the ground before going out, leaving a woman with pale greyish green skin, a black cloak with a spiked collar, a headdress with a pair of large curved black horns, and a long wooden staff with a glowing green orb at the top and a pointed end on the bottom. "I must admit, when I sensed a keyblade, I was expecting it to be that other brat. However, I suppose having two brats with keyblades running around would be too troublesome to allow. Kill them."

Then, she was gone in a pillar of green flames again as the heartless charged. Tyler and the others began to fight instantly. Tyler ducked under one sword and slashed the heartless up the front, destroying it, only for another to take its place. He blocked that one's sword and Lightning shot it before shooting her own.

"Hey, he was mine!" Tyler complained, slashing two before they could strike him.

"Gotta move faster," Lightning grinned.

"Okay, fine," Tyler grinned back, spinning and slashing in a circle.

Lightning bolts shot out of the sky around the ring of heartless, blasting a dozen or so into oblivion before Tyler slashed upward in front of himself, a line of black spheres of Gravity Magic falling before him, crushing even more. Then, suddenly, the others were using his idea, their spells blasting heartless near-constantly. Tyler saved his own magic on instinct, though he wasn't sure why, and noticed Lightning doing the same. However, before much longer, a creature with a fully white body that moved like it had no bones, a large head that was flat like something had cut the top off, the same symbol as the giant creature on top of its head, and a mouth that looked like a zipper open and exposing a set of pointed black teeth in a secondary mouth inside flipped over the heartless and shot toward Tyler as though it were a leach swimming through the water. He slashed it and its body began to jiggle and ripple as it flew away. The heartless swarmed it instantly, slashing it several times before it burst into a cloud of what looked like white light and small bits of glowing something or other.

"The hell was that?" Tyler asked.

"No idea, but it wasn't alone," Lightning said, pointing to the tp of a cliff beside them where dozens of the creatures were swarming down the side of the cliff.

Tyler quickly used his keyblade to clear them a path away from the cliff and they ran, making it to a much larger open area before more heartless and white things appeared, ignoring each other in favor of Tyler and the others, whereas behind them, the creatures were fighting each other relentlessly. Tyler readied himself and both the heartless and other things charged. And suddenly, they were fighting again. Tyler was barely even able to keep track of his score as he fought. he dodged, flipped, slashed, and stabbed anything that wasn't a friend that he could reach. Then, suddenly, another keyblade spun through the creatures and heartless from seemingly out of nowhere, slaughtering them all before returning to its wielder, a boy about sixteen with brown hair that stood up to the left in a spiky mess, an open, black, short-sleeved jacket over a dark blue shirt with a double-ended red pocket on his stomach, black shorts with dark blue wrapping between his legs, fingerless black gloves, black shoes, and a pair of red thigh pouches strapped to his legs with yellow straps. He wore a crown-shaped necklace on a silver chain, and had silver pauldrons over his jacket. His keyblade was silver with a straight, round blade, which was clearly still magically sharpened, teeth that formed the outside of a three-pointed-crown silhouette, and a golden guard around the grip with a silver chain hanging from the base, the charm looking like a silver silhouette of Mickey's head and ears.

"Another keyblade?" Lightning asked.

"That must be the kid Leon mentioned," Fang said.

"Sora," Tyler said. "Thanks for the save."

Sora glared at him in silence for a moment before pointing the keyblade at him. "Who are you? How did you get a keyblade?"

"I think we have more pressing concerns right now, don't you?" Tyler gestured around.

"Answer the question," Sora said. "How'd you get that keyblade? And why was Organization XIII saying that I should ask you abut the Heartless attacking?"

"Who the fuck is Organization XIII?" Tyler asked. "You know what, forget it. We have to stop the heartless. You can go bother someone else."

Tyler heard Sora's foot push off the ground and spun, raising his keyblade just in time to block Sora's. They pushed against each other for a moment before Tyler formed a sphere of wind in his hand, swinging it at Sora, only for a shield to appear around Sora, blocking the spell but still allowing Sora to be thrown back.

"Fine," Tyler growled. "I'll deal with you first. You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Fang, Vanille, Serah, and Noel all turned, obediently running toward the castle the Heartless were supposed to be coming from, meaning to head the Heartless army off. Tyler sighed, knowing Lightning was going nowhere. He crouched, readying himself, and Sora sprinted forward, slashing at him rapidly, their blades clashing again and again. Finally, Tyler managed to deflect Sora's slash upward, willing his blade blunt and slamming it into Sora's gut, lifting him off the ground before jumping and slamming a kick into his chest, hurling him backward, catching his keyblade. Big mistake. The moment his hand touched Sora's grip, magic energy began to rage through him, sending agony searing through his body, making him collapse, spasming on the ground. After about three seconds, it ended as Sora summoned his keyblade back. Tyler groaned, Lightning helping him up, watching him worriedly.

"I'm fine," Tyler said, feeling the excess magic that had remained in him settling and merging with his own. "Sora, I don't want to fight."

"Then answer my question!" Sora snapped.

"I don't fucking know!" Tyler said.

"Fine then!" Sora said. "I'll beat it out of you!"

Both charged, Tyler blocking Sora's first slash then flipping over a leg sweep, landing behind Sora and slamming his once again dulled keyblade into the side of Sora's head, sending him staggering to the side. Sora stumbled before catching himself with his keyblade, eyes narrowed at Tyler.

"Give up Sora!" Tyler snapped. "You're not beating me!"

"We'll see!" Sora shouted, sprinting forward, slashing at Tyler rapidly.

Tyler blocked and deflected the strikes, Sora actually forcing him back this time. Tyler grit his teeth, struggling to fend off Tyler for a moment before Sora pulled his keyblade back, magic energy beginning to streak back along it from a single pint just in front of the tip, forming a point. Tyler slashed sideways as he spun in the other direction, barely managing to deflect the stab, and Sora spun, slashing at Tyler. Tyler flipped over the blade and kicked at Sora but he ducked under the kick then swung his keyblade downward, slamming the blade into the ground. Instantly, four spheres of magic energy appeared around him, spinning. One of them slammed into Tyler's gut and hurled him away. Tyler bounced once and flipped, stabbing his keyblade into the ground and skidded to a stop, ripping it free and looking up as Sora leapt into the air directly in front of him, arms both pulled back but separate. Then, red light flashed off of Sora, leaving him in a red jacket over a black shirt with a dark grey pocket, red shorts with black between his legs and a symbol on the front of his legs like an odd kind of spear pointing down toward his red shoes. And then Tyler noticed the much more important change. Sora was suddenly holding two keyblades. His normal one, and then a keyblade with a black guard with purple lines over it like a circuit board, a black blade with a glowing blue line up the center to where fur glowing blue teeth extended off of the back of the top in a semicircle around an orange disk. And there was red electricity flying over Sora's arms and torso.

Sora spun, slashing first with one keyblade, then the other, both keyblades slamming into Tyler's own twice before Sora kicked him, sending him flying and bouncing off the ground. Tyler rolled to a stop and pushed himself up, healing himself, only to shout in surprise as Sora already caught up with him. Tyler leapt to the side, avoiding the first slash and Sora spun on a dime, darting forward in a blur and slashing at Tyler again, both keyblades whipping through the air in blurs, slamming into Tyler's faster than Tyler could keep up with. Finally, one of them, thankfully dulled, slammed into Tyler's gut, hurling him backward. Then, as Sora sprinted forward to finish the fight, a bullet slammed into the ground in front of him and he flipped backward, landing on his feet as Lightning stepped up beside Tyler, returning her gunblade to its sword-mode as Tyler stood, cracking his neck and readying himself.

"Thanks for that," Tyler said.

"We'll handle this together," Lightning said.

Tyler nodded and all three charged, their blades clashing with each other's rapidly. Sora was good, but with Lightning's skill, he was struggling to hold them off. Tyler ducked under a slash and Sora spun instantly, slashing upward with the other keyblade, Tyler blocking it as Lightning blocked Sora's other keyblade's slash. Then, both slammed a hand into Sora's back, two Aero spells blasting him and sending him flying forward. Sora flipped, landing on his feet and charged again, keyblades held diagonally toward the ground at his sides, however, when he reached them, they both slashed upward in an "X", Lightning and Tyler both stepping back out of the way as Sora leapt into the air, flipping and slashing another "X" at them, much closer this time. Both blocked a keyblade and Sora pushed off of their blades, throwing himself into the air. Then, he flipped, landing on his feet and sprinting forward again, slashing at them from behind, only for both to back flip over him, Sado slashing and blasting him in the back with an Aeroga, the tornado picking up and spinning Sora for a moment before hurling him. Sora flipped, landing on his feet and glaring at them, only to stop when a fireball exploded to the ground between them.

"Enough Sora!" Leon's voice called out as he ran over. "He's not an enemy! His name's Tyler, he promised to help just like you did."

Sora looked between them before standing up straight again, flashing and returning to his normal outfit and only one keyblade just as a duck and a humanoid dog that Sado recognized as Donald Duck and Goofy ran over, Donald holding a small staff and Goofy a shield. Just a shield.

"Sorry I attacked you," Sora said.

"You're not forgiven," Tyler said. "If you're done attacking me for no reason, I have heartless to kill and friends to help."

Tyler turned, running after his friends with Lightning just behind him. They reached the others just as Serah swung her arms down, massive chunks of ice appearing over the last group of heartless around them and falling, crushing the heartless.

"Looks like you guys have it handled," Tyler grinned.

"Barely," Fang said. "How'd it go?"

Tyler glanced back at him, seeing Sora holding two keyblades in his mind while remembering the pain that had caused him. "He's got skill. He has the ability to-"

He stopped midsentence as his entire body went cold, the others all stiffening. He turned, staring at a wall of darkness as something began to step out of it. However, after a moment, the darkness faded, leaving Caius this time in a full black body suit with dark grey skin, glowing gold eyes with cracks around them also glowing gold, and his sword radiating darkness and black flames.

"Shit," Tyler growled, summoning his keyblade again. "He's a heartless."

"Indeed," a voice above them said, everyone turning to stare at the newest stranger as he pointed his excessively long sword at Tyler. "You interest me. I wonder, can you kill me?"

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	25. Chapter 25

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Unchallenged

Tyler turned, staring at a wall of darkness as something began to step out of it. However, after a moment, the darkness condensed into the person, leaving Caius this time in a full black body suit with dark grey skin, glowing gold eyes with cracks around them also glowing gold, and his sword radiating darkness and black flames.

"Shit," Tyler growled, summoning his keyblade again. "He's a heartless."

"Indeed," a voice above them said, everyone turning to stare at the newest stranger as he pointed his excessively long sword at Tyler. "You interest me. I wonder, can you kill me?"

The man was tall, probably six foot four, with silver hair reaching the back of his knees, an open black trench coat with red along the front edges, a belt over the coat with a stylized "M" on the silver buckle, a pair of silver pauldrons, a pair of black leather belts under the coat over his abdomen, a pair of brown leather straps crossing over his otherwise bare chest in an "X", black pants, black boots, a katana-style sword that was about eleven feet long, a black bat-wing-like fin with red webbing extending off the outside of each forearm, and a huge dark blue, feathered wing extending from his right shoulder blade along with from under the bottom of his coat on both sides, hanging about level with his thighs.

"What the hell are you?" Tyler asked, holding his keyblade ready, glancing at Caius every few seconds to make sure he wasn't attacking yet.

"I'm Sephiroth," the man said, still holding his sword out with one hand without his arm or sword even trembling a tiny bit, betraying a monstrous amount of strength. "So, can you kill me?"

Tyler swallowed hard, glancing at Lightning worriedly. "Lightning, you, Fang, and Noel fight Caius. But be careful. Serah, Vanille, stay out of this fight altogether."

"You can't fight him alone," Lightning said.

"Then kill Caius quickly," Tyler said.

And with that, he stepped forward, knocking Sephiroth's sword aside and lunging, slashing at Sephiroth. Sephiroth smirked, sword flashing all the way around behind him and slashing at Tyler from the side. Tyler pivoted, slamming his sword into Sephiroth's, only to be sent flying. As he crashed to the ground, Fang crashed down beside him, flipping and landing on her feet, growling in annoyance. Tyler glanced at Caius, seeing him slashing and sending massive blasts of darkness and flame at Lightning and Noel rapidly, the two of them barely able to avoid the blasts, all the while struggling to attack Caius back.

"How's yours?" Fang asked.

"He's a fucking monster," Tyler growled. "Sephiroth, if you want a challenge, let us kill Caius first, then we'll fight you together."

Sephiroth chuckled and nodded.

Tyler turned, sprinting at Caius instantly, only for Caius to send a blast at him. Tyler focused, light shining from his keyblade as he slashed the blast, sending it flying into the sky. The light faded from his keyblade as Caius sent a blast at Lightning and Noel, then slashed horizontally at Tyler. Tyler leapt over it and slashed at Caius as he fell. Caius's blade blocked Tyler's and Tyler landed on his feet, shoving Caius's sword aside, slashing at him again. Caius stepped around it, slashing downward at Tyler, only for Tyler to duck out of the way. Caius's sword smashed into the ground and Lightning opened fire, her bullets slamming into Caius's chest rapidly, making him shout in pain, his voice distorted and metallic, as he staggered backward. Then, Tyler and Noel both stepped forward, slashing him. Caius roared in pain, dropping his sword and staggering away again, turning in time for Fang to slash him up the front with the back end of her lance, hurling him into the air. Lightning and Tyler both jumped, slashing him rapidly, both using magic to hover for a moment, before dropping. As Caius fell, he flipped, darkness exploding off of his hand, reforming his sword, before he slashed at them as he landed, forcing both to leap back, only for several fireballs to explode into Caius from above, courtesy of Noel.

Caius burst out of the flames a half-second later, streaking toward Serah. She screamed, stumbling back but Noel stepped into the way, moving to block the slash, only for Caius's sword to smash directly through both of Noel's, splitting his torso open. Noel shouted in pain, staggering backward, Serah catching him, just before Tyler and Lightning slashed at Caius from behind, Caius leaping over the slashes, flipping backward and landing away from them all.

"Damn he's fast," Tyler growled.

"He's even more dangerous now than when he was alive," Lightning agreed.

"I'll have to stop holding back," Tyler growled, his keyblade beginning to shine, forming his light element keyblade. "Could Odin or one of the other summons help?"

"They'd probably be killed," Lightning said. "It's better not to risk it."

Tyler nodded and charged, the others just behind him. Caius slashed at Tyler and he ducked under it, slashing as he spun past Caius, missing by less than an inch before Caius kicked him away, slashing upward and deflecting a slash from both Lightning and Fang over his head. Then, he slashed back down at Fang, who dove out of the way. As soon as she had, Caius's sword curved around and slashed at Lightning. She hurled herself backward, avoiding the blade, and Caius turned, his sword blocking Tyler's. Tyler grit his teeth, pushing harder against Caius's sword, then leapt into the air, pushing off of it to flip over Caius. He formed a sphere of light in his hand and Caius spun, a sphere of darkness forming in his own. Then, they slammed them together, the spells forming a massive explosion, hurling Tyler into the air while Caius remained in the center of the crater unharmed and standing on a pillar of untouched ground.

"This is starting to piss me off!" Fang said.

"Then let's finish this!" Lightning said.

Both charged and Caius tapped his heel against the top of the pillar. It crumbled instantly and he ride a chunk of it down at Lightning, slashing at her as he reached the bottom. Lightning flipped over it, slashing upside down at his head, but he ducked under it, flipping backward and kicking her into Fang. Then, he landed on his feet, turning and raising his sword just as Tyler's crashed into it, cratering the ground below Caius even more and forcing Caius to brace his blade with his free hand. Caius growled in effort, then slashed upward, hurling Tyler backward. Tyler flipped, landing beside Lightning and Fang as they pushed themselves up. Then, he and Lightning charged again, both beginning to slash at Caius rapidly. Caius grinned wickedly, wielding his sword with only one hand, fending off both of them easily. Tyler ducked under a slash, and Caius turned, knocking Lightning's blade aside before spinning out of the way of a stab from Tyler. Tyler spun outward, slashing at Caius, only for Caius's blade to crash down on his stopping the attack before Caius planted his foot in Tyler's chest, hurling him backward. Lightning slashed upward at Caius, and Caius blocked it with his own blade, raising his left hand and catching the shaft of Fang's lance. Then, he yanked it away before instantly driving it back, planting the blade on the back end in Fang's gut.

"Fang!" Vanille shrieked.

Caius flipped the lance, hurling Fang off of it into the face of the cliff off to the side, then spun, slamming the shaft of the lance into Lightning's gut, hurling her away with it. However, just as he did, Tyler slashed at his arm, making him drop the lance and leapt backward. He chased Caius, slashing at him rapidly, Caius again fending him off easily. However, this time, Tyler began to focus his magic energy in a way he had been practicing in secret. He channeled it into his muscles and bones, making his body move faster, then into his eyes and brain to allow himself to process what was happening faster. As he did this, a pure white aura began to glow around him. Caius narrowed his eyes and began to lose ground, his sword sparking against Tyler's keyblade rapidly as both spun and slashed again and again, Caius actually using both hands now.

Finally, Caius knocked Tyler's blade aside and raised his own, only to spin, slashing three glowing arrows out of the air, glaring at Serah. Tyler stabbed at Caius from behind instantly, and Caius spun, knocking the blade aside and moving to slash Tyler, only for Tyler to drop, Lightning firing her gunblade rapidly, the bullets peppering Caius in the face and chest. He staggered backward instantly, and Tyler lunged, driving his sword into his abdomen, twisting it so that the edge was upward before ripping it up and out of Caius, turning away and slashing back down, stopping his blade at his side and sighing as Caius collapsed behind him. He turned, looking down at Caius as darkness enveloped him, raging around and around before dispersing, leaving nothing behind.

"Most impressive," Sephiroth commended. "You impress me."

"Great, now leave," Tyler said, looking to Fang as Lightning finished healing her, handing her lance to her.

"I don't think so," Sephiroth said. "We had an agreement. I allow you to fight Caius without me interfering, and all of you face me together. Now attack me, or I'll start."

Tyler grit his teeth but nodded and charged. However, as before, he couldn't get close. Sephiroth was fast and his sword was so long that he was able to keep Tyler from getting closer than five feet away. Lightning stepped up beside Tyler after a moment and when Tyler blocked Sephiroth's sword, Lightning slashed at Sephiroth. Sephiroth deflected the slash and Tyler lunged, stabbing at him, only for Sephiroth to step out of the way of the blade, slashing downward at Tyler. Lightning blocked it and Sephiroth kicked Tyler, launching him away. Tyler bounced and rolled to a stop, pushing himself up just as Sephiroth slammed his sword into Lightning's gunblade, hurling her. Then, as she began to stand, he lunged, slashing at her rapidly. The first lifted her into the air, then his sword began to rapidly tear into her, blood flying out of a fresh wound every second. Finally, he flipped, slashing downward and she managed to block it, only to be sent bounding off the ground, rolling to a stop beside Tyler.

"You're both pathetic," Sephiroth said, raising a hand, blue energy beginning to rapidly form into the palm of his hand as he rose, dark violet energy forming around Sephiroth. "Die."

He swung his hand, the sphere flying at lightning and Tyler, and Tyler turned, placing himself in front of Lightning. Suddenly, he felt like something had tugged a fishing line attached to his gut in a sudden jerk. Then, the explosion went off, white-hot daggers of pain stabbing into his ears, but not part of his body burning. He blinked, turning and looking back, staring at a massive mechanical thing shaped like a wall ripped off of a metal castle. Smoke was curling up from the other side of it, but the blast hadn't gotten through.

"It's Alexander!" Lightning gasped.

Tyler really wanted to know who Alexander was, but he had other concerns. He focused his magic energy into his body again, his white aura returning, brighter this time. Then, he sped around the wall, streaking at Sephiroth, who raised an eyebrow, slashing at him. Tyler deflected the blade upward, reaching Sephiroth and slashing at him rapidly. Sephiroth blocked his attacks, jumping backward rapidly as he fended off Tyler, however, Tyler kept up with him, pressing him hard. Finally, Sephiroth spun, his wing slamming into Tyler's gut and throwing him backward. Tyler flipped, landing on his feet as Sephiroth flew at him, sword pulled back, However, when he slashed, Cloud stepped past Tyler, knocking the sword aside and lunging, lashing rapidly at Sephiroth, Sephiroth retreating rapidly as he fended off Cloud's much heavier, broader, and almost equally long sword.

Finally, Sephiroth knocked Cloud's sword away and jumped, flipping and hovering in the air a fair distance away from them. "I see. So you sensed me then. I'll take my leave here, then."

Then, sank to the ground, darkness forming around him as he reached it, swallowing him before fading.

"Thanks for the save," Tyler said. "Who was he?"

"Someone from my past," Cloud said. "Someone incredibly dangerous."

"I can tell," Tyler said, turning to the others just as the massive mechanical wall broke apart, transforming into a massive humanoid robot before fading. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Fang says, pushing herself up from beside the cliff. "I think I've had enough fighting for one day, though."

"Yeah, you're heading back to the ship," Tyler agreed. "Send Sazh to help me and Lightning. And see abut getting Noel patched up, and new swords."

Fang nodded and walked over to the others. A moment later, light enveloped them all, then left Sazh in their place when they left. Sazh walked over and Tyler sighed, turning to look down the path Sora had run with Donald and Goofy.

"Alright," Tyler said. "Let's go fight some heartless."

Lightning nodded and the three of them began to jog down the path, Cloud having left immediately after stopping Sephiroth.

* * *

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	26. Chapter 26

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Saved

Tyler dropped into a slide as the heartless's blade passed over him. As he was standing, another stepped forward in front of him, only for him to split it up the front as Lightning killed the one behind him. Sazh sprinted past both, guns blazing and dropping heartless faster than the heartless could keep up with. They had tried following Cloud, but instead of that, they had ended up taking a wrong turn and found themselves on a path along the top of a cliff, a massive swarm of heartless trying to go the other way along it.

Tyler flipped into the air, slashing two floating jar heartless before grabbing a third and turning it so that it was facing back along the path just as a glowing sphere of energy above it shot outward in a beam, blasting through a dozen heartless before Tyler smashed the jar into the ground, destroying it. Lightning flipped over him while he was still crouching and slashed a pair of knight heartless, then swung her free hand, a thick bolt of lightning hitting the ground and blasting half a dozen more. Sazh aimed his guns upward and launched a barrage of fireballs out of them, the fireballs flying over Lightning and falling into the heartless, blasting them, sending even more off the edge of the cliff. Tyler shot forward, sprinting through a clear path they had formed, slashing anything in reach as he ran. Then, he skidded to a stop, blocking a knight heartless's blade and spun the knight stumbling past into Lightning's blade before she stepped up beside Tyler and they continued, quickly slaughtering their way through the heartless. But it was exhausting. Finally, the pair fell back and Sazh stepped past them, opening fire for a moment before tossing a red crystal into the air and opening fire again, blasting it on the way down. Instantly, an explosion went off, vaporizing a dozen heartless before Sazh's summoning robot, an Eidolon, Tyler thought they were called, burst out of the smoke, tearing into the heartless with its staff, fire spells, and Sazh's bullets for what few it missed.

"I didn't realize you were so good at fighting armies," Tyler said, leaning against the wall of stone on the safe side of the cliff.

"When they're close like this, I barely have to aim," Sazh grinned. "Every shot hits something."

"Sounds like fighting Cy-bugs," Tyler said.

"Don't remind me," Lightning groaned.

"It worked out pretty well," Tyler said.

"I almost died," Lightning said.

"But it gave me the balls to actually do something," Tyler countered.

Lightning stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, smiling. "Touché."

Tyler looked back to where Sazh and his Eidolon were steadily working their way along the path. He had tried to summon the massive robot from his fight with Sephiroth, but he had been unsuccessful in figuring out how. Lightning had said that it was probably just that there was something like a cooldown between uses, but he still didn't know how to do it.

"Shall we get back to it?" Tyler asked.

"We should," Lightning nodded.

They both turned, catching up to Sazh just as a massive black hand shot out of the warm of heartless ahead of them, sending a massive spray of heartless flying in all directions as it did before swatting Sazh's Eidolon off the cliff. Sazh swore, leaping backward as the hand crashed down where he had been before a second rose, beginning to try to lift its body up.

"Fuck," Lightning swore. "It's one of them."

Tyler watched as a Darkside, the same giant heartless as had been in his own world when it fell, rose from the swarm of heartless, turning to them. "Well, we might as well not wait for it to make the first move."

He sprinted forward, but the Darkside's fist swung around, crashing into the face of the cliff to Tyler's right, boulders beginning to tumble down the cliff instantly. He swore, changing his course slightly and running up the wall of the cliff at an angle. Lightning shouted in surprise, but just shy of him, the only boulder that was a threat to him bounced, missing him and crashing down where he had been. Then, Tyler leapt off of the cliff face and over the other heartless, driving his keyblade into the Darkside's face. Instantly, he set off three fire spells inside of the Darkside's face, making it roar in pain, staggering backward, toward the drop off. Its foot shattered the edge and it began to fall. Lightning screamed, but Tyler leapt off of it at the last second, using a gravity spell to crush a group of heartless flat, clearing himself enough room to land in a roll, regaining his feet and spinning, slashing a ring around himself. A moment later, Lightning and Sazh broke through the heartless behind him, clearing them before the three tore into the other side.

After about another three minutes, they finally left the walkway, instead finding themselves on a massive rounded area with a sheer cliff face on all sides, making it an arena, save for the path back. As they reached it, more and more heartless began to arrive from a path on the other side, where there was a drop on each side. Tyler grit his teeth, forcing his aching body back to one hundred percent output, he and Lightning working to keep the heartless' attention, Sazh working to slow the oncoming flood. And still the heartless continued to swarm. At one point, Lightning summoned Odin, but Tyler barely registered it. His body was on autopilot, spinning and slashing his way around and around through heartless, trying to stay near Lightning, but also trying to stay alive. His brain only registered Odin's presence when Odin's sword passed within three inches of his stomach, then a lightning bolt hit so close behind him that the hairs on his head began to stand on end.

After about five minutes, three Darksides rose around them. Tyler and Lightning began to head for one, Odin for another, and Sazh began to stay out of the last's way. Tyler sprinted up his and Lightning's target's leg, leaping off of his knee and driving his keyblade into its chest. Then, he formed a fireball in his free hand and hurled it into the Darkside's face. The explosion made the Darkside stagger backward before Lightning slashed its shins. It fell to its knees and Tyler dropped to the ground, summoning his keyblade back before he and Lightning both darted past its head, splitting it wide open in an "X". It roared, standing up straight and staggering backward. Then, as it stopped at the edge, it began to struggle to maintain its balance, so Lightning and Tyler both turned back toward it together, sending a pair of lightning bolts blasting into its chest, sending it over the edge. Tyler turned to Odin's target just as he jumped, his propellering blade shredding the Darkside's front the whole way up before Odin slashed back down, a lightning bolt blasting into the Darkside just as the sword left it. The Darkside staggered backward then fell to its knees, beginning to fade quickly. Tyler and Lightning turned to the last one just as the Darkside's fist began to tear through the heartless, heading directly for Lightning. Panic flooded Tyler and his hand snapped out on instinct. In a flash of light, Alexander appeared in its humanoid form, catching the Darkside's fist. Then, Alexander turned, pulling the Darkside's arm and smashing it to the ground before grabbing its head with both hands and squeezing. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, its head exploded. The body faded quickly as Alexander turned, squatting down as it did and sweeping its arm across the ground, sending nearly fifty heartless spilling off of the plateau they were on in one go.

"Alright!" Tyler grinned. "Don't knw how I did it, but I'm not complaining!"

"Let's go!" Lightning said, turning and charging into the heartless again.

Tyler followed, both tearing into the heartless quickly, Sazh shooting the swarm off to the left and Alexander stomping into the swarm ahead of them, sweeping aside, or crushing, entire lines of heartless one after another. Tyler smiled as they began to be able to see through the swarm. They were getting close to the end. Running out of heartless. They could actually win this.

As if on cue, the paths on both sides of the plateau exploded into the air. From one side, a massive black heartless with three spider-like leg spikes tipped in red an upper bdy covered in spikes with a pair of long arms with three glowing red claws on each hand and a blocky head with a mouth filled with wickedly sharp teeth leapt over the remaining heartless, slamming into Alexander and tackling it off of the cliff. A moment later, the heartless scrambled back over it, roaring in a high, vibrating screech. On the other side of the plateau, a giant white creature, similar to a Darkside, but with an entirely white body, spiked shoulders, its fingers all joined, blue tentacles around its neck like a scarf and reaching backward, and the odd inverted heartless symbol the white creatures from before had had in place of a face.

"What is that?" Tyler asked, staring at the giant.

"No idea," Lightning said, facing the spider thing. "But I think this is the bigger threat."

"I'm not so sure," Sazh said, facing the remaining heartless, still numbering over a hundred.

"At least we have Odin still," Tyler said, just in time for Odin to leap at the spider thing, only for it to slash him across the chest, sending him crashing down on the edge of the cliff before rolling off of it, already shining and beginning to fade as he returned to wherever they were summoned from. "Shit."

"Everyone be careful," Lightning said. "Sazh, try t keep them off of us."

"I'll do my best," Sazh said promised.

Just then, Fang appeared beside him in a flash of light. "I'll help Sazh fight them. I can't summon Bahamut, though."

"Having you here is enough," Tyler said. "Let's go!"

He charged, the giant creature's arm shooting across the ground in a winding, waving motion, like a snake, before it grabbed him, hurling him into the air. He began to fall as it formed a massive sphere of white and black energy, holding it above its head, like it meant for him to land on it. He hurled his keyblade into the sphere and it exploded, the creature staggering backward before collapsing. Tyler landed in a roll, grabbing his fallen keyblade and sprinted forward, slashing the creature's face. He swung his keyblade around, slashing it again before one of its tentacles slammed into him, launching him away. He flipped, crashing into the spider heartless's side and dropping to the ground, It drove a leg down at him, but Lightning tackled him out of the way. Tyler blasted the spider's stomach launching it into the air before standing, Lightning returning to facing the spider as Tyler charged at the giant again. He rolled out of the way of a slap, the creature's hand cracking the ground, then leapt onto the hand, sprinting up it to the creature's head, slashing it on the way up before flipping and slashing again, hurling a fireball into the creature's face. It staggered away, roaring in pain before its hands shot out to catch Tyler again. He spun, slashing both, his blade meeting them like they were metal before knocking them away. He flipped and landed on the ground before darting forward and slamming his keyblade into its foot, once again feeling like he had hit a metal wall with a lead pipe. The creature's tentacles stabbed down at him and he dove out of the way, the tentacles stabbing into the ground instead. As he stood, a sphere of dark energy appeared beside the creature's head. Unlike the last, which was as big as the giant's body, this one was about the size of its head, slightly bigger than Tyler's torso.

Tyler dove to the side just as a dozen spiked, vine-like constructs made of dark energy shot out of the sphere, stabbing into of the ground in a trail after him. As Tyler stood, the creature's hand slammed into him, hurling him backward. He crashed into Sazh's back, his shot hitting Fang in the back of the right shoulder instead of its intended target. Fang shouted in pain, staggering forward, a heartless lunging and driving its sword through her abdomen instantly. She stood frozen for a moment before destroying the heartless and staggering backward to Sazh and Tyler.

"Are you okay?" Sazh asked.

"No I'm not okay," Fang growled. "You shot me!"

"My fault," Tyler said. "You were stabbed."

"Must be my lucky day," Fang said. "Its blade went through the same spot as Caius stabbed me earlier."

"I was hoping you were healed," Tyler said.

"Not fully," Fang said. "I have to head back."

"Go," Tyler nodded.

Just as Fang disappeared in a flash of light, Tyler spun, catching Lightning as she sailed through the air. Her back was coated in blood with a three jagged wounds running from her right shoulder to her left hip, her shirt and jacket hanging from the spider's claws, and her bra laying in pieces below it. Tyler stepped in front of Lightning instantly, summoning his keyblade to himself again as he looked between the two giant enemies and Sazh looked around at the remaining heartless. Then, Alexander rose from the edge of the cliff, covered in dents, cracks, and some chunks broken off, and raised one hand, the other holding him up above the cliff. The spider began to turn, only for Alexander's hand to crash down on it, crushing it before Alexander began to shine and faded.

"Thank God," Tyler sighed, turning to the giant. "Hang in there Lightning. I'll heal you as soon as this thing's dead."

"Don't worry...about me," Lightning said, barely even able to sit up, and avoiding doing so to try and keep from bleeding too bad.

Tyler glanced at her worriedly before turning back to the front and charging. The giant swatted at him but he dove to the side, barely avoiding it before regaining his feet and continuing. He reached its leg and leapt onto its knee. As he jumped higher, however, the giant's hands slammed closed on him, pinning his hands to his sides, his keyblade spinning into the air. He struggled to free his hand, but the giant's grip was as solid as its body. The keyblade stabbed into the ground as the giant began to squeeze Tyler. Tyler screamed in agony as his left arm began to crack and his rib cage compress. It had been a long time since his terrible luck had bothered him, but it seemed like it was finally ready to give him everything it had saved up. Fang, Noel, Lightning, himself. This was without a doubt the worst day he had had.

"Firaga!" Sazh shouted, a gigantic fireball slamming into the giant's face and exploding into a fireball the size of the giant's entire upper body.

It staggered backward and Tyler fell to the ground, his leg snapping as he landed. He summoned his keyblade to himself, using it to force himself to his feet, glancing over at Sazh as Sazh fired at the advancing heartless horde, even more beginning to arrive from a sea of darkness that was swarming over the ground. Tyler swallowed hard, turning back to the front where the giant was pushing itself back up. Tyler hobbled over to Lightning and fell to his knees, swallowing hard.

"I'm sorry Lightning," Tyler said. "I don't think we'll win this one." He raised his keyblade, a green light flashing from the end of it before more green light shone from Lightning's back before sinking into her, her wounds sealing but leaving jagged scars. "Damn. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"It's alright," Lightning said, pushing herself up to her knees. "We need to get out of here."

"I love you Lightning," Tyler said, Lightning's eyes watering instantly as she realized what he was about to do.

"Don't you dare," Lightning said. "You aren't allowed."

"We can't let this thing loose on this world," Tyler said. "But we're not going to survive this fight on our own."

"The let me stay," Lightning said. "Maybe if I stay-"

"Serah, take her," Tyler said.

Light enveloped Lightning instantly, teleporting her away. Tyler sighed and pushed himself back up, turning to the giant as it reached for him.

"I really didn't want to have to try this," Tyler sighed. "Sazh, you can leave if you want."

"If I did that, you'd never be able to win," Sazh said. having been pushed back to stand beside Tyler. "I'll stay. Vanille and Serah can take care if Dajh. And now he'll have Alice to play with."

Tyler nodded and grit his teeth, his entire body screaming in agony as green light spread from his keyblade, enveloping him and healing his wounds before turning white as Tyler shot forward, slashing the giant's hand aside and leaping at it. It roared, rearing back and stabbing at him with its tentacles but he slashed them all aside, sprinting up its chest, the magic enveloping him keeping him attached to its chest like gravity had shifted. Then, he jumped as he neared its face, slashing upward and splitting its face open, the creature roaring and retreating as its face sealed. Three tentacles slashed at Tyler and he deflected them before raising his keyblade, the fourth crashing down on it and blasting him into the ground, cratering it. He began to stand just as the giant's foot crashed into him, sending him blasting into the heartless. They swarmed toward him but he slammed the blade of his keyblade into the ground, spheres of light bursting out of the end and spiraling around him, slaughtering the heartless and clearing a ring around himself, allowing him to leap over them, sprinting along the ground again as his vision began to blur slightly. He focused magic into his eyes, sharpening his vision again, his pain intensifying as he over-exerted his already empty magic reserves even further.

He reached the giant again and again its tentacles stabbed at him, but this time, someone short and in a black cloak flipped past, slashing the tentacles and severing them with a keyblade with a white paint bottle for a grip, a black blade that curved into a ring that ended in a point just shy of closing at the end with a black star in the opening. On the back side, sky blue paint was attached to the blade. The paint was coming from the base of the hilt forming the two sides of the hand guard in a frozen pair of splashes with the back side's paint reaching up around the blade, curling around it once before forming a sort of wave toward the ring, with a little paint reaching up onto the ring, forming the keyblade's teeth. The charm was a pair of crossed, black paint brushes with blue paint on their bristles. Tyler and Sazh stared at their mystery pilot as he hurled his keyblade, the keyblade spinning through the air and tearing through the swarm of heartless on the opposite side of them before curving back around, their pilot catching it, as before holding it in reverse grip.

"Who...who are you?" Tyler asked. "How do you have a keyblade?"

Their pilot turned toward them slightly before stabbing his keyblade into the ground and hurling his cloak into the sky. As he did, a blue light shot along the ground from his keyblade to Tyler, shooting up Tyler's legs to envelop him before fading, restoring his magic and making his pain vanish. Tyler let the magic aura around himself vanish as he stared at the pilot. He looked a lot like Mickey, but instead of two massive, round ears, he had a pair of long thin ones, like a rabbit. He wore a pair of black cargo shorts with silver pockets, a dark blue belt, black sneakers with blue tongues and soles and silver laces, and a short-sleeved hoodie with dark blue inside the hood and pockets, silver drawstrings, and a silver zipper up the front, and a pair of fingerless gauntlets with dark blue on the backs of his hands and the rest black. On his head, slightly off-center to the right, rested a silver crown that was half as tall as his ears.

"Oh my God," Sazh breathed. "He's King Oswald.

"Who?" Tyler asked.

"He was the king before Mickey, but he got exiled by Mickey when Mickey took over as king," Sazh said.

"What for?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know," Sazh said. "I only know that much from talking to Mickey. He won't talk about it."

"I'm not surprised," Oswald said. "He never _did_ enjoy talking about things he did wrong."

Tyler watched Oswald for a moment longer before spinning and slashing a knight heartless as it leapt at him. "Can you handle that thing?"

"Easily," Oswald said. "Handle the weak ones."

"With pleasure," Tyler said. "Let's go Sazh."

Sazh nodded and began to shoot the heartless, Tyler tearing into them with his keyblade. As they did, Oswald charged the giant. It swung at him but he flipped over its hand, landing on the other side before jumping again, slashing its face before landing on its head. He waited a moment then leapt off, avoiding the giant's hand and allowing it t slam into the giant's head. Then, he flipped, swinging his keyblade and sending a bolt of lightning exploding into its head. As he landed, he darted forward again and jumped, flipping over the giant's other hand, this time landing on its arm and sprinting up it. The giant roared, a sphere of darkness appearing beside the giant's head only for Oswald's keyblade to hit it, causing it to explode, knocking the giant sideways. Oswald leapt into the air, summoning his keyblade back and pulling it back, the blade glowing before he hurled it into the giant's face, the blade stabbing into it before an explosion of light went off, destroying its head. Oswald flipped, landing lightly as the giant's body tipped backward, falling off of the cliff as it faded. Oswald turned back to the other heartless and summoned his keyblade back, pointing it at the sky, lightning bolts beginning to rapidly blast into the heartless, slaughtering them in seconds. Tyler stared at him in shock as Oswald let his keyblade disappear.

"You're amazing!" Tyler breathed. "But...why help now? Why not before?"

"Because Lightning wasn't begging me to save you before," Oswald said.

"Lightning?" Tyler blinked. "Why didn't you help her when she was in a coma if you care so much about her then?"

"I don't care about her," Oswald said. "But her begging was getting annoying. Don't expect me to save you again, though. Annoyance or not."

"I won't," Tyler said. "Thank you."

Oswald grunted and raised his keyblade, light enveloping him again, leaving Lightning in his place. Lightning threw her arms around Tyler instantly, kissing him for a moment before pulling back and slapping him.

"Don't you _ever_ do something stupid like that again!" Lightning snapped, tears running down her cheeks.

"I won't," Tyler promised, looking to the side.

Below them, a swarm of heartless were marching past, only for Leon and Cloud, along with the rest of their group to arrive, beginning to slaughter them. Tyler focused his magic and began to run down the side of the cliff, Lightning and Sazh both following. When they reached the bottom, they tore into the heartless around them drawing the heartless' attention enough for Leon and the girl with the long black hair, Tyler was pretty sure she was named Tifa, to reach them.

"Nice of you to join us," Leon said. "How was your path?"

"Terrible," Tyler said. "There was this massive spider thing, and a giant grey thing, oh, and about double this many."

"Including Darksides," Lightning added.

"Sounds like fun," Tifa said, punching a heartless and sending it blasting through the rest.

Tyler rolled his eyes, focusing on fighting the heartless. Together, they quickly fought the heartless back, Cloud and the other girl, Yuffie, joining them after another minute, making the work even easier. After about twenty minutes, they finally stopped as the heartless began to disappear into clouds of darkness that appeared under them then faded again.

"Is it over?" Tyler asked.

"We need to get back," Tifa said. "To make sure they didn't get in behind us."

The others agree and they all hurried back to the town, finding that it was clear and the citizens of the town were celebrating, including Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"It's over," Tyler sighed. "Thank God."

"Thank you guys for all of your help," Tifa smiled.

"No problem," Tyler said. "Cloud, thanks again for saving us."

Cloud nodded and Tyler looked to the other two, both of whom nodded.

"We should get going," Lightning said. "We need to check on our friends."

The others nodded, all saying goodbye before they were teleported back to the ship.

* * *

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	27. Chapter 27

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Resting

Tyler sighed as he sat back against the wall of the ship, having just finished healing Fang the rest of the way. It had taken a lot longer than it should have because Caius had spread darkness into her body as he stabbed her. Vanille had been unable to heal her abdomen because of it being more powerful than the darkness Tyler had been poisoned with then they met. On the bright side, Tyler's keyblade had been perfectly capable of sealing the wound. The darkness was a lot trickier, but after a long while of experimentation with controling light, Tyler had managed to clear the darkness from Fang's body.

"Thank you Tyler," Vanille said, holding Fang's hand while Fang lay unconscious in her bed.

"It's not a problem," Tyler said. "She's my friend too."

Vanille smiled and nodded. Tyler walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself and found Lightning waiting a little ways down the hall.

"How is she?" Lightning asked.

"She's fine now," Tyler said. "She just needs to rest. How's Noel?"

"He's healed," Lightning said. "Serah hasn't left his side since they got back, though. She was terrified she'd lose him."

"That's understandable," Tyler nodded. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm exhausted, obviously," Lightning said. "But I'll live. You?"

"Same," Tyler said. "I feel like I could sleep for a month."

Lightning nodded. "Sazh told me what happened." She turned on him, glaring. "What the hell were you thinking!?"

"I had to stop it," Tyler said. "Our job is to stop the Heartless, and whatever those white things are. But I'm not losing you in the process, so I sent you back to the ship."

Lightning sighed. "I don't want to lose you either. You're more important."

"No," Tyler said. "I'm really not. To me, you're the most important thing in any world. I'd sacrifice everything, even the others, for you."

Lightning smiled slightly, slipping her hand into his. "That's not okay. Even for love, it's bad to choose one person over everyone. We shouldn't be this attached to each other."

Tyler smiled, giving her hand a light squeeze. "It doesn't matter. I'll never let anyone be put in a situation where I have to choose between them. I'll always protect as many of my friends as I can."

Lightning nodded as they reached the door to her room. "I think I remember owing you a reward."

"No, you don't," Tyler said. "Being able to be with you is enough of a reward."

Lightning smiled and kissed him. He smiled, resting his hands on the sides of her waist as he leaned into the kiss. Lightning sighed slightly, her hands reaching up to cup his face, holding him for a moment before sliding back to wrap her arms around the back of his neck. Her tongue trailed across his bottom lip, asking entrance, and his own slipped out to meet it, Tyler's hands sliding back to the small of her back, holding her a little tighter against him. Lighting let out a shaky breath as she pressed flush against him, and he took that moment to slip hi tongue pat hers, beginning to map out the contours of her mouth, her own tongue doing the same, both moaning and pressing closer. Lightning's left hand moved to the back of his head, tangling in his hair as her right slid to the back of his neck, clutching at him almost desperately. After a few more seconds, Tyler pulled back to breathe, only for Lightning to instantly drag him back into a kiss, except it was completely different this time. It was hungry. Desperate. There was so much passion and emotion in the kiss that it almost scared him, but it also drew out his own, and within the half second it took him to get over his surprise, he was already returning the kiss in kind without having to think about it.

Lightning stepped backward toward her door and Tyler followed, reaching past her to press the switch beside the door to open it. As soon as it was open, Lightning jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist as his hands grabbed the only spot they'd be able to hold her up by, Lightning moaning in response. He walked into the room and the door slid shut behind them. Within seconds, Tyler lay Lightning down on the bed, hands beginning to explore her body, sliding over her arms, shoulders, sides, abdomen. Anywhere he could reach just to feel that she was actually there. She allowed him to do as he liked for a few minutes before grunting impatiently one hand grabbing his and pulling it to her chest. He smiled, giving in to her order and began to knead her mounds through her shirt, Lightning moaning as he did. After a couple of minutes, he pushed a leg up between hers, using it to slide her skirt up out of the way and pressing it firmly into her crotch, Lightning moaning and beginning to rock her hips against it. He reached up and unzipped her jacket and shirt, pushing them out of the way and returning his hands to her breasts, now covered only by her lacy, pink bra. He grinned into the kiss but she nipped his lip and he hissed in pain.

"Make one joke and I kick you out of my room," she warned.

Tyler smiled, slipping his fingers under her bra to tweak her nipple and Lightning moaned, rocking against his leg more insistently. He smiled, pushing her bra up, only for her to roll them over, straddling his waist and quickly shedding her clothes, allowing him a moment to admire her nude form from her perky, C-cup breasts and stiff nipples that matched her hair to her clean-shaven nethers, which were slightly swollen and slick from her arousal. He realized that she actually wanted this as badly as he did and swallowed hard. His brain was, of course, choosing now to remind him that he had no idea what he was actually doing. Beth may not have been his first girlfriend, way back before the Heartless had ever caused him to be introduced to Lightning, but no matter who he was with before, he never really did anything with them. Dates, kissing, the odd make out session, sure. But he had never really gone past some light touching. Not until now.

"I'm not taking your pants off for you, you know," Lightning said.

Tyler nodded and quickly slipped out of his own clothes, actually managing to avoid making a fool of himself by getting his feet stuck in his pants. Once he was finished, Lightnign climbed back onto the bed, straddling his waist again and rejoining her lips to his, the kiss just as fierce and hungry as before. Tyler's hands returned to kneading her breasts, and he shoved the nagging reminder his brain kept sending him that he didn't know how to do it properly. Lightning's hands rested on his sides for a few seconds before she pulled back from the kiss, gently pushing him onto his back before beginning to stork him lightly. Tyler groaned as her soft hand slid up and down his shaft, Lightning smiling.

"You don't have much experience, do you?" Lightning asked.

Tylers face flushed instantly, and he looked away from her, shame blossoming in his chest. "Sorry."

Lightning turned his face back to her and kissed him. "Relax. I don't care."

Tyler nodded and Lightning sat back up, lifting her hips and lining him up with her entrance before beginning to sink down onto him. Tyler groaned again, swallowing hard as he felt her slick tunnel slowly engulfing his shaft, pulling him in until he was fully seated inside of Lightning, who moaned softly, brow furrowing slightly before she grit her teeth for a moment. After a few moments of adjusting, she began to lift up, Tyler biting back a moan. Then, Lightning dropped, her slick pussy squelching as his dick was shoved back into it. She leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on his chest before beginning to move her hips quickly, Tyler swallowing hard instantly as he realized how hard it would be to last a decent amount of time. Already he was struggling not to lose himself to the sensations. Each time she raised her hips, her tunnel clenched slightly, seeming to be trying to keep him from being removed from her, and every time she dropped her hips, he groaned as her tunnel hungrily devoured him again. His hips thrust up into her in time with her drops of their own accord and Lightning gasped, then moaned, Tyler continuing to meet her drops with thrusts. He raised his hands, beginning to knead her breasts again, paying special attention to her nipples, and Lightning tilted her head back, moaning appreciatively.

He fought to keep his breathing steady, trying to keep himself calm so that he didn't make a fool of himself, and after a few seconds, Lightning took his right hand, siding it down to her slit and he obediently began to rub her clit with his thumb, moving it in quick, light circles, Lightning moaning more loudly in response. She began to speed up, bouncing faster and faster on his cock, her pussy swallowing and releasing it over and over. Tyler felt himself beginning to slip, his balls beginning to tighten and fought to hold back. However, after a few more minutes, he groaned, hips bucking up into her as his seed erupted into her. Lightning moaned loudly, her hips rocking and bouncing quickly, urging him to let out as much as he could, working every drop from him. After a few moments, it was over and he began to soften, Lightning breathing hard and smiling. She leaned down and kissed him for a moment before lifting up and allowing him to slip out of her.

"Sorry," Tyler said. "I should have warned you."

"It's alright," Lightning smiled. "We'll be more careful next time."

Tyler nodded, smiling before she lay beside him, facing away from him. He hesitated before rolling onto his side toward her. She scooted back, snuggling into him and he wrapped an arm around her, smiling for a moment before it faded. Shame began to fill him again. He hadn't done well. He hadn't known what he was doing, he hadn't lasted long enough, he hadn't made her feel good. He hadn't been good enough. She wouldn't say it, probably, but he was as pathetic at it as he was anything else. He was a disappointment in everything, it seemed. Fighting, defending, healing, sex. He was mediocre at best.

After a few more minutes, she had drifted off to sleep and he looked to the door. He considered heading back to his own room for a lot longer than he would have liked. He didn't want to be there in the morning. Not after making such a fool of himself and disappointing her so badly. He didn't want to see her remember her disappointment when she woke up in the morning. But then, if he left, he'd probably offend her, and then he'd pay for that during their training for the day, in addition to inevitably paying for disappointing her. He sighed, tucking his face into her hair. If she regretted it in the morning, at least he'd be there for her to tell him. If he left on top of disappointing her, he could kiss their relationship goodbye. Assuming it wasn't already ruined. She probably wouldn't want to do this again anytime soon.

He sighed miserably, closing his eyes and trying to force himself to sleep, only to lay awake for hours, his shame and regret denying him any sleep. So, hours later when Lightning stirred, he was still awake and it was a relief when she did. If she was awake, he could leave. He could make an excuse, like needing to shower, or use the bathroom, and he could leave before he had the chance to disappoint her again. Before she had the chance to tell him how pathetically inferior he was.

Lightning rolled over, smiling brightly at him. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he smiled.

She leaned in and kissed him, lingering there for a long while before he pulled away, deciding to get away before he could do anything else to disgrace himself.

"I should get back to my room," Tyler said. "I need to get cleaned up and use the bathroom."

"Oh," Lightning said, sounding slightly surprised. "Alright."

He stood, quickly getting dressed, trying to avoid her watching him. Once he was dressed, her turned to the door, only for her to catch his arm.

"Hey," Lightning said, smiling. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled.

Then, he turned and left the room, waiting for the door to close before going from a normal walk to a speed walk, bordering on a jog. He felt his eyes sting and fought the tears back until he was in his room, safe in his own private quarters and with the door locked. Then, he grabbed his pillow, screaming into it in frustration and anger. He hated it. He hated being so completely inept and inadequate at everything. He had been training with Lightning and Fang for months and he still couldn't even come close to matching either of them, his magic was still pathetic, even _with_ his keyblade, and he could only use a handful of different types of elements, and only weak magic with them, and now he was a complete failure at something else. He had seen it in her eyes. She'd been so disappointed in him that she had had to force herself to smile for him. He had probably hurt her by leaving as quickly as he had, but be hadn't been able to stay there any longer, festering in his feelings of inadequacy, and having her force a smile to pretend he was anything but that.

He screamed into his pillow again before hurling it across the room, kicking his bed frame several times and punching the wall, successfully managing to break all five toes on his right foot along with several bones in his right hand. He summoned his keyblade and healed himself before walking into the bathroom, turning the shower on before getting undressed and hurling the clothes in the general direction of his dirty clothes basket. He glanced at himself in the mirror and felt shame, disgust, and anger flash through him, his body moving on its own to spin, slamming his right fist into the reflection of his face, shattering the mirror and once again breaking his hand, this time having shards of glass in his hand, and blood remaining in the crater in the mirror. He pulled the glass out and healed himself again before stepping into the shower and scrubbing himself hard, turning the heat all the way up until it was scalding against his skin as he scrubbed, hoping for some unfathomable reason that causing himself pain and scrubbing at his skin hard enough would somehow make him feel any less like a failure.

Finally, he shut the water off, drying himself before getting dressed, only to crawl back into bed, pressing his face into his pillow and once again shouting in frustration and anger. He couldn't believe he thought he'd actually be enough. He couldn't believe he had let himself hope that maybe he _wouldn't_ disappoint her. After a few more minutes, he had finally managed to calm himself enough to leave his room, walking toward the training room. He stopped outside the door, however, as he heard voices.

"So, how was it?" Fang asked.

"It was...I mean...it was good," Lightning said, Tyler able to easily hear the confliction in her voice. "I mean...it was the first time, so...I mean...it was good...but..."

He turned, quickly walking away, all of the feelings he'd been struggling to suppress all night and that morning flooding him once again. He suddenly wished he had a normal door to slam, but settled for locking it, then beating his fists and feet against it until they were broken in several places, and the tears rolling down his face were only halfway from emotional pain. He climbed back into bed, not bothering to heal himself this time, burrowing into his covers.

* * *

"So how was it?" Fang grinned, seeing Lightning ease herself into one of the few chairs in the training room, rubbing her thighs to try and ease the soreness.

"It was...I mean...it was good," Lightning blushed before her brow furrowed. "I mean...it was the first time, so...I man...it was good...but..."

"What's wrong?" Fang asked. "I know you're not disappointed with the sex. If you were you wouldn't be saying it was good, not even for him."

"No, no," Lightning said. "It really was good. I honestly didn't expect it to feel that good, even though it was my first time. I was expecting it to hurt more...but...he was acting...weird this morning."

"Weird how?" Fang asked.

"Like...Like he couldn't stand to be around me," Lightning said. "His smile was obviously forced, and he looked like he didn't sleep well. And then...I wanted to..." Lightning blushed dark red. "I wanted to try again this morning, but...he said he had to bathroom, and that he should get cleaned up. It was...like he was...disappointed, I guess? Like I wasn't good enough, and he just wanted to get away from me. When he was getting dressed, he was rushing, and it felt like he was desperate to get away. And, when I told him that I loved him...he said it back but...it seemed like he was having to force himself to say it."

Fang scoffed. "What a jerk!" She shook her head. "What kind of asshole takes his girlfriend's virginity, then makes her feel like shit by treating her like she's some disease to be fled from?"

Lightning stared at the ground in silence. "Maybe...Maybe I wasn't good enough. Maybe I did something wrong."

"I doubt it," Fang said. "Whatever happened, it's entirely his fault. Sex as a girl isn't hard. Just play with the stick for a bit until something comes out of it."

Lightning grimaced. "Do you have to make it sound so...crass? Unimportant?"

"Sex is sex," Fang shrugged. "It's nice, and it's great to do with someone you love, but it's still just sex. There's nothing amazingly complex about it."

"I guess," Lightning sighed. "How are you feeling, by the way."

"Better," Fang said. "Tyler's come a long way in his healing skills. He's almost as good at that as he's gotten at fighting. I'm so jealous of that asshole's learning curve. I mean really, a few months and he's almost as good as we are after years of training? How is that fair."

Lightning smiled. "I know what you mean. A few more months at best and _he_ might be teaching _us_ how to fight."

Fang nodded, laughing. "Oh well. I'm going to head back to bed and let Nurse Vanille dote on me some more. You should go rest your legs while you've got the chance." She grinned knowingly and Lightning blushed but nodded.

"Maybe I should apologize to Tyler first," Lightning said.

"No," Fang said. "There's no way his bad mood is your fault, so you have no reason to apologize. If he wants to be an asshole, let him. If he's going to get mad at you over nothing, he doesn't deserve you."

"Don't say that!" Lightning said. "That's not true! He's not like that! He's..."

"I didn't mean you have to break up with him," Fang sighed. "He's a good guy. He'll probably cheer up within an hour and go crawling back to you to apologize."

"I suppose," Lightning said. "I guess I'm going to head back to bed for a little while."

Fang nodded and both left the room, heading back to their beds.

* * *

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	28. Chapter 28

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

* * *

Hurting

Tyler wiped his eyes with the back of his wrist, sniffing and trying futilely to will himself to stop crying. This was stupid. He was acting like a child. It had been hours since he'd locked himself in his room, and he was still crying over his own inadequacy. So not only was he shamefully pathetic, he was also an immature child who cries for hours because he embarrassed himself. He wiped his eyes again just as someone knocked on the door.

"Tyler?" Vanille's voice called through the door. "You weren't at lunch. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Tyler said, voice betraying him and cracking at the end.

"Can I come in?" Vanille asked.

"I just need some time to myself," Tyler said.

After a moment, there was a beep and the door unlocked, sliding open before closing again. Tyler turned his face into the mattress more and tried to stop his tears before she could see them, but it was too late. She gasped softly as she saw he was crying and sat on the bed, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"Tyler, what's wrong?" Vanille asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Tyler lied, pushing his hands further under the blanket, only to suck in a breath as pain lanced through him.

Vanille yanked the blanket away instantly, gasping harshly as she saw his hands and feet were all swollen and a dark purple with lines of blue and all clearly broken badly. "What happened!?"

Tyler remained silent and Vanille began to heal them, looking around. For the first time, she noticed the blood on the inside of the door, then the shattered mirror and the blood covering it. Her eyes widened just as she finished healing him.

"What happened?" Vanille asked. "Why would you do that to yourself."

"Nothing," Tyler lied. "Just leave me alone."

"Tyler, talk to me," Vanille said. "I want to help."

"There's nothing you can do," Tyler said. "Nothing happened."

Vanille's eyes narrowed and she grabbed him by the shoulders lifting him up into a sitting position before slapping him. "That is enough. Tell me what's wrong right now, or I'm going to tell Serah that you and Lightning got into a fight and let _her_ figure out what happened. And I don't care if that's what happened or not."

Tyler stared at Vanille for a moment before his face fell, tears beginning to run down his cheeks again as he stared at his lap in shame. "I...I'm just...I'm a failure."

"What do you mean?" Vanille asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" Tyler snapped, more out of exasperation than anger, though he _was_ getting angry with himself again.. "Nothing happened! That's the problem!"

"What do you mean?" Vanille asked, confused. "Is this about...you and Lightning?"

Tyler sighed heavily and nodded. "I...I'm pathetic. I...First I make a fool of myself, then I break my hands and feet in frustration and just lay here crying for hours. I'm a fucking loser."

"Don't say that!" Vanille snapped. "It's not true!" She sighed, voice softening. "Tell me what happened."

"I told you, _nothing_ happened," Tyler said. "I...I wasn't...I couldn't..." his cheeks began to turn pink as his eyes narrowed, glaring at his hands as they clenched each other's fingers, wringing them. "She didn't even..."

Understanding filled Vanille's face. "Is that it? That doesn't matter."

"Bullshit!" Tyler scoffed. "I'm worthless! I couldn't make her feel good, I didn't have a clue what I was doing! Hell, I barely even lasted five minutes!"

"Tyler that's normal," Vanille said. "And for that being your first time, that's really, _really_ good. Most guys with a lot of experience can barely last that long."

"Yeah, sure," Tyler snorted derisively. "You don't have to lie to me, Vanille. I know I'm a disappointment. She made that pretty clear."

"What do you mean?" Vanille asked.

"She couldn't even talk to me after, and she lay facing away from me so she wouldn't have to look at me," Tyler said. "Then the next morning I could see she was forcing herself to smile to try and make me feel better, but she had to force herself to tell me she loved me. Then after I took a shower, I heard her and Fang talking in the training room and I heard her telling Fang how disappointing I was, and trying to use the excuse that it was my first time to try and cover for me."

Vanille was silent for a few seconds before sighing heavily. "You're wrong. You're imagining things. She's not-"

"I'm not imagining things!" Tyler snapped, glaring at her. "I _know_ what I saw! I made a fool of myself and she couldn't even look me in the eye afterward!"

"No, that's not true!" Vanille argued. "She was-"

"How would _you_ know what she was!?" Tyler demanded. "You weren't there!"

"I-"

"Just get out!" Tyler snapped. "If all you're going to do is try to lie to me, then just get out!"

"Tyler, I'm not lying to you!" Vanille said, hurt. "I'm-"

"GET OUT! ! !" Tyler thundered, Vanille flinching back before rushing out of the room.

Tyler grit his teeth for a moment before shoving himself up and stepping forward, drilling his right hand into the wall, shattering multiple joints, two knuckles, and his wrist this time. He shouted in pain and kicked his dirty clothes basket, sending it into the wall on the opposite side of the room, spilling dirty clothes across the floor.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Fang asked as Vanille walked in, wiping her eyes.

"He's such a..." she sighed irritably. "Why don't men ever listen to what anyone has to say before they start yelling!?"

"He yelled at you!?" Fang demanded, pushing herself up, only for Vanille to stop her.

"No, it's not his fault," Vanille said. "He didn't mean it, he's just upset."

"Why the hell is _he_ upset!?" Fang scoffed. " _He's_ the one who treated Lightning like shit after they had sex! Seriously! She gives him her virginity and he repays her by getting pissed and locking himself in his room!"

"He's not angry," Vanille said. "At least, not with her. He's angry with himself."

"What?" Fang asked, frowning. "Why?"

"He thinks he disappointed her," Vanille said.

"What?" Fang asked. "Why?"

Vanille sighed. "I'm pretty sure it's just a misunderstanding, but he's really hurting. It was his first time too, so he didn't really know what he was doing, and he thinks that he didn't last long enough. Then after, apparently, she didn't really say anything, she just went to sleep, so he thought maybe he disappointed her because he didn't make her finish."

"That's stupid," Fang said. "Some of the best sex I've ever had I didn't finish."

"Yes, but he's never been with anyone else, so he thought that it just meant he wasn't good enough," Vanille said. "I could tell by the shadows under his eyes he didn't sleep last night, so he probably was so frustrated with himself that he just lay awake all night stewing in his own self-deprecation until he convinced himself that he was a failure. So then when she woke up, he had convinced himself that she didn't want to be around him, so he saw what he thought was her forcing herself to act like she was happy to see him, and forcing herself to say she loved him. Then, once he was cleaned up, he said he overheard you and Lightning talking. Apparently she was saying something about being disappointed and it being his first time?"

"Not even close," Fang said. "She was saying that she was surprised by how good it felt, especially since it was her first time, but that he was acting like she had offended him somehow, or disappointed him, and he ran out of her room just as fast as he could."

Vanille frowned. "He was sure he heard different. Did she actually say it was her first time, or just _the_ first time? And did she say he was acting upset right away?"

Fang thought for a minute before shaking her head. "I don't think so, no. I think I had to prod for a bit to get her to actually say that. If he only heard the beginning, and had already convinced himself he wasn't good, it might have sounded like she was trying to make up excuses for him. Maybe. But, I mean, he's overreacting locking himself in his room, right? I mean, he can't really be _that_ upset, right?"

"Wen I went in there, he had broken both hands _and_ feet by punching and kicking the door, and there was blood on it as proof, and he had obviously punched the bathroom mirror, too," Vanille said. "It may be an understanding, but he's really broken up about it. He's actually physically punishing himself for what he thinks was him not being good enough."

Fang sighed heavily. "Jesus. That's it. These two are talking this out. I'm not letting their relationship fall apart over a misunderstanding."

Vanille nodded. "I'll go get Tyler. He'll probably need his hands healed again."

"No," Fang said. "Let Lightning see. It'll help if she knows just how much he's beating himself up."

"How?" Vanille asked.

"For one thing, she'll be worried about him enough to force him to talk to her," Fang said. "For another thing, even worried she made him mad, she'll know he's not the type of person to break his hands against a wall because he's angry at someone else."

Vanille nodded slowly. "I guess."

"Come on," Fang said.

They left their room, walking to Lightning's and knocking on the door. After a moment, it opened and Lightning looked out at them.

"You need to go talk to Tyler," Fang said.

"I...I don't want to make him any more angry," Lightning said. "I...If I messed up enough for him to lock himself in his room...I don't want to do anything to risk losing him more than I already have."

"Lightning, it was all a horrible misunderstanding," Vanille said. "Go talk to him. Ask him what's wrong. Make him tell you. If you don't talk this out, you _will_ lose him. But I promise you, he's not mad at you."

"Then what is it?" Lightning asked.

"Go and ask," Fang said. "Trust me, this is something the two of you need to discuss."

Lightning sighed and nodded, leaving her room and heading for Tyler's. The door slid open as soon as she pressed the button and she froze, eyes wide as she saw the clothes scattered across the room, the laundry basket lying in the corner, the shattered mirror, the blood on the wall beside the bed.

"What do you want now Vanille?" Tyler grumbled, turning toward the door, only to stop, eyes widening as he saw it was Lightning.

Lightning's eyes widened as she saw the tears running down his face and Tyler quickly hid his broken hand behind his back. She crossed the room instantly, pulling his hand out from behind his back. She stared at it for a moment before healing it. Once it was healed, she held it with both of her own hands, her tears dripping onto the back of it.

"I...I'm so sorry," Lightning said, on the verge of crying. "I'm so sorry for making you mad. Please, tell me what I did. I promise I won't do it again, just please don't hate me. I couldn't take that."

Tyler's eyes widened before he pulled her into a hug, fresh tears running down his face from guilt. "I'm not mad at you. I never was. I'm so sorry, Lightning. I...I just...I wasn't good enough."

"What?" Lightning asked, pulling back, confusion written all over her face. "What are you talking about?"

"I...I wasn't good enough," Tyler repeated. "I didn't know what I was doing. I couldn't even...I mean...you didn't…"

Lightning's eyes widened slightly before she smiled, in spite of the situation. "Tyler...you did nothing wrong. I..." she could tell by his face that he didn't believe her. "You know, it was my first time, too."

Tyler looked up at her in surprise.

"That's why I asked if it was yours," Lightning smiled sadly. "I wanted to know if I would have to worry about not being as good as someone else. I didn't want to disappoint you. I was terrified that I'd have to try to compare to someone else, and that you would be disappointed. I was so happy it was your first time. And...I was surprised that it didn't hurt much. I always heard the first time was supposed to be really painful, but it was amazing. I was so happy. But then, the next morning, you acted like I really _had_ disappointed you, and like you couldn't stand to be around me anymore."

"I...I thought you were disappointed by me," Tyler said. "I...You just...You didn't say anything after, so I thought you were disappointed you didn't get to...finish. I couldn't sleep because I felt so bad, but then, the next morning, I thought you were just trying to act nice, even though you wanted me to leave."

"No!" Lightning said, shaking her head. "I loved waking up with you, and I loved being able to have you hold me while I slept. I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I...I didn't...I just...thought you would know how much I love you already."

"I'm sorry," Tyler said. "I should have known better." His brow furrowed in confusion. "But...if that's true, what were you talking about with Fang? I heard part of it. You said it was good, but...you were saying that it was the first time, like...like you were trying to come up with an excuse for why I wasn't very good."

"No, that's not it!" Lightning said. "I meant that it was _my_ first time. And it _was_ good. It was better than I could have ever hoped. I loved being able to be with you like that. I had wanted to do it again when I woke up, but you left so fast. I thought you were mad. And with Fang...I was asking for advice about why you were mad. I thought I did something wrong."

Tyler stared down at her hands, still holding his. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

Lightning shook her head. "I should be the one apologizing. I should have made sure you were okay. I shouldn't have been too embarrassed afterword to talk to you. I wanted to tell you how good it felt, but I was embarrassed."

Tyler smiled. "You have no reason to be. You're beautiful, and you're so amazing that I'm still afraid that I'm actually dreaming and we're not really together."

Lightning smiled. "So am I. I...You're the first person I've ever really felt this way for. I've never even really had a crush before, so I'm terrified of making a mistake and losing you."

"If anyone's going to make a mistake, it'd be me," Tyler said. "Like I did today."

Lightning reached up, cupping his cheek and lifting his head, smiling. "I love you, Tyler. I love you with all my heart, and I don't regret what we did. It was amazing, and I was so happy to be able to be with you."

Tyler smiled. "I feel the same. I'm sorry for being an idiot. Can you forgive me?"

Lightning smiled and leaned forward, kissing him. Tyler smiled, kissing her back happily, his own hand cupping her cheek as well, wanting to hold her as close as he could again. After a few seconds, Lightning's tongue reached out hesitantly, asking permission, only for Tyler to pull away.

"I'm sorry!" Lightning said hurriedly.

"No," Tyler said, shaking his head. " _I'm_ sorry. I...I just...I can't. Not right now."

"Okay," Lightning nodded, smiling. "Whenever you're ready then. I'll wait. Just being able to be with you is enough." her eyes widened slightly. "You...You _do_ still want to be together, right?"

"Of course I do!" Tyler nodded, cupping her face and pressing his forehead to hers, smiling. "I love you, and I'm yours for as long as you'll have me. I just...can't do _that_ right now."

Lightning nodded, smiling, and kissed him. "Okay. Then I'll wait. We can try again whenever you're ready."

Tyler nodded, smiling, and Lightning stood, holding out her hand.

"Come on," she smiled. "You need to eat."

Tyler nodded, accepting her help up and they left the room together, heading to the ship's kitchen.

* * *

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